Posted on 12/02/2004 6:14:15 PM PST by beavus
Ping.
Thanks for posting this, Beavus.
bump & ping
I think I will have to do some thinking about this. Back at a later date.
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but if human life does begin at conception (when the sperm fertilizes the egg) than wouldn't these "ethical embryos" be just that - ethical embryos - since no sperm whatsoever is involved in this process?
Whoa Nelly...is this for real?
Let's assume for the moment that this is ethical (which I don't concede--still pondering).
Why go to all this trouble to produce stem cells from blastocysts when there is plenty of non-embryonic stem cell material available? Umbilical cord stem cells are what have (allegedly) enabled the wheelchair-bound women noted in the press a few days ago to walk.
This is still too Brave-New-World for me. What will it be--women who aren't trying to get pregnant go to egg-donor facilities once a month? Do they have any legal stake in whatever beneficial results come from their egg donations?
Human life? No.
Ethical embryos? That appears to be a stretch.
The phrase "human life does begin at conception" is fraught with misunderstandings.
Enlighten me.
I don't think my Father likes this much...we'll see...
FMCDH(BITS)
It sure is. I consider them to be ethical but they're certainly not embryos, nor are they anything that even remotely resembles an embryo. They're just a clump of cells that do not have even a remote chance of becoming human.
What if one day someone discovers a way to successfully impregnate a woman with an altered umbilical cord stem cell?
Possible Pro-life ping.
If true, important discussions and references to Biblical Guidance and Christian teachings needed.
I already have and rejected it. I recently read somewhere where some scientist proposed the possibility of growing humans without heads so they wouldn't really be people, just body parts.
This would seem to be a step in that direction.
"I consider them to be ethical, but they're certainly not embryos."
Good point. I fell for the wording used by those who've crafted this procedure. If these clumps of cells are not embryos and, therefore have no chance of becoming a human life, then I don't see where there is any problem here.
Beav, I don't think there are any sperm hiding in the umbilical cord. If there are, I don't want to know how they got there.
Not yet, anyway, given the young state of this technology.
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