Stem cells: Give us the cures, spare us the sermon

Newark (red)Star Ledger ^ | 12/22/02 | JOHN MCLAUGHLIN

[Incorrigible]

Hmmm.  Why don't we just run some medical experiments on these Jews here.  After all, they're not people.  It will help medical science and we can all benefit.  God won't think I'm a bad guy.

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[Marysecretary]

It has been proven that adult stem cells are the answer, not embryonic ones. They continually die off but the adult stem cells don't. It's another deception.

[The Obstinate Insomniac]

We will see if the pro-life freepers want to add something here.

[Hodar]

And never mind that the embryos at issue are those left over from in-vitro procedures at pregnancy clinics and would be destroyed in any event.

Plus stem cells that are found in abundance in placenta. To make the statement that stem-cells are found in fetus's; therefore we will not do work with stem-cells is short-sighted and foolish. If the gov't wishes to restrict the 'sources' of stem-cells to prevent an abortion industry, fine. But to non-fund a means in which we may gain medical knowlege is flawed. Much like insulin, in time we need not kill or 'harvest' from animals in order to get what is needed. But, first we must understand what is going on.

[APBaer]

"Why don't we just run some medical experiments on these Jews here.."

No, I prefer that if experiments are run that they be run on some idiot posters, of which we have a full complement.

[MHGinTN]

It all rests on this flawed assertion: So, freeze in perpetuity superfluous embryos created in a lab to induce birth, and you are doing the Lord's work. Making extra individual human lives to store in liquid nitrogen while playing 'russian roulette' with implantations isn't even doing the Lord's work. It's humankind playing at being like God, but with little or none of the know how to do it right. If it is appropriate to exploit for body parts the embryos in in vitro labs, it is appropriate to harvest body parts from any preborn individual human life. It ain't and we will suffer the consequences if we allow our arrogance to so extend. This may sound crass, but I don't count this writer's life more important than the embryonic life he wants cannabalized for his treatment.

[Long Cut]

I'm as rightwing as anyone around. I also have a family FULL of people who have been wracked by diseases which could be cured by such research.

It is absolutely unconscionable for those who claim to be religious to stand in the way of this. We're not even talking about abortion here...these embryos WILL NEVER develop into humans. To allow such fearmongering demagogues to halt research into treatments which could ease pain or cure ailments is plain wrong.

Now, let the flames, full of horrid namecalling and strawmen, begin! Let the insane comparisons to the Nazis start! It only places those who use such "arguments" in the same corral with those Leftists that they CLAIM to despise, yet whose emotion-laced tactics they seem to just LOVE.

[Dinsdale]

They take donated organs from adult murder victims don't they?

What is the moral problem with this? They are'nt being killed for their stem cells/kidneys, that is obviously different. The choices are burn, bury, use or eat (ref python: if you feel guilty about eating your dead mother you can through-up into a grave afterward).

[AppyPappy]

Dr Mengele, white courtesy phone

[APBaer]

"It is absolutely unconscionable for those who claim to be religious to stand in the way of this"

Ah, but see, they have two things going for them:
1. They *know* they are right and everyone else is *wrong*, no beyond that, damned.
2. They are all tied together by their ping lists, true "Freep This Poll" types, tending by the number of posts they make to appear to constitute a much larger portion of Freepers than they actually are.

[madprof98]

A truly bad lot. Unlike, say, the libertarians here, who are . . . well, not righteous exactly, because that suggests there might be a "wrong" to go along with the "right," but you get the idea.

[APBaer]

"A truly bad lot. "

No, I wouldn't want to say that and appear to be judgmental.

[Romulus]

"They are the very people who believed in miracles, yet they would deny me my miracle."

The hell-bent insistence on making himself the beneficiary of a murder is what's blocking this man's chance at a miracle. He needs a cure for his soul.

It's a grim irony that Byrnes's disease is blindness.

[DWSUWF]

I'll bet that at least some of John McLaughlin's neighbors drop whatever they're doing when McLaughlin comes out to shovel snow...

They crowd around their windows, watching him with rapt attention...

Hoping he'll have a massive coronary.

John, for his part, always wonders what that muffled "Awww..." sound is that seems to come from all around him when he stops shoveling and climbs the steps to his front door.

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

And I'm willing to take my chances that God won't make me out to be a mass murderer.

With this "reasoning" anything horrific can be justified. You (McLaughlin) may be willing, buddy, but we won't let you kill innocent people so you can overcome your personal hurdle. That is too great a price to pay.... Pray to God for your own self, and let others live their lives....

[Pintobean]

"Hmmm. Why don't we just run some medical experiments on these Jews here. After all, they're not people. It will help medical science and we can all benefit. God won't think I'm a bad guy."

These embroyos are not alive, they are not in a woman's uterus. They are in frozen storage and will/would be discarded.
Would you disagree to adults donating their loved one's organs to save others as well?

[Onelifetogive]

"I tell them that it's more important that God help those to whom he's already given life," Quigley says. Joan Quigley is a Democratic assemblywoman from Hudson County.

I sure God appreciates having this woman manage His affairs for Him.

[Incorrigible]

What is the moral problem with this?

The problem is more of a slippery slope problem than the immediate case being made.

As stem cells become more useful, the demand for stem cells will also increase.  Thus, we first let the embryos grow further in order to harvest more.  However, since growth can only occur so far in a petri dish, the "term implantation" will occur so that the growth can be harvested for stem cells and other parts as well.

Most Monty Python references are crass and yours is no exception.  Instead, I suggest:

A Modest Proposal

[Incorrigible]

Now, let the flames, full of horrid namecalling and strawmen, begin! Let the insane comparisons to the Nazis start! It only places those who use such "arguments" in the same corral with those Leftists that they CLAIM to despise, yet whose emotion-laced tactics they seem to just LOVE.
And it's so much fun too! :-)