Principles in Practice: The Blog of the Objective Standard

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

As Predicted...

Posted by Alan Germani at 8:00 PM

…by Yaron Brook in this ARI press release, Advanced Cell Technology's attempt to develop a means of harvesting stem cells that meets the approval of religious critics of stem-cell research has failed. From an Australian news source:

The breakthrough technique was meant to answer critics at the papal palace, the White House and beyond, who have long argued that it was ethically reproachable to attempt to save one life by taking another.

But the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, told Reuters in an interview that the new method by Advanced Cell Technology Inc failed to overcome the church's many moral concerns.

Sgreccia said the procedure was wrong footed from the start—experimenting with embryos is reprehensible, as is use of "unnatural" in-vitro embryos created at fertility clinics, like the ones the US scientists employed in their research.

Advanced Cell then made things worse by extracting what could be a "totipotent" cell, Sgreccia said.

"This is not just any cell, but a cell capable of reproducing a human embryo,"Sgreccia said. He added that, in effect: "a second embryo is being destroyed".

The Vatican, and any religionist who sides with it on this issue, would rather protect a few embryonic cells—potential human lives—than save or extend millions of actual human lives. That these mystics call themselves "pro-life" while opposing efforts by scientists to prevent human death and misery is utterly reprehensible.

As Advanced Cell Technology has discovered, scientists can't please religionists who take their faith seriously. Neither well-reasoned arguments nor appeals to human life and happiness will stop religionists from condemning scientific research and procedures that conflict with their baseless beliefs. Rather than trying to avoid such unavoidable condemnation, scientists should proudly proclaim the life-serving potential of stem-cell technology—and point out the irrational, anti-life nature of those who would rather preserve clumps of cells than save human lives.

Labels: Individual Rights and Law, Religion, Science and Technology