08.25.2010
Two scientists, Dr. James L. Sherley and Theresa Deisher, may win their case against the Department of Health and Human Services because they are morally opposed to stem cell research. It is because of them that there is a current injunction on federal funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells.[1]
What about being morally opposed to scientists creating the atomic bomb that killed thousands of Japanese? Or bombs that kill Iraqi civilians? Or Afghanis?
What about being morally opposed to scientists creating methods to alter cells genetically so that we can engineer an ideal baby?
What about being morally opposed to the hunger of thousands of children already born and living in our own backyard? Or being morally opposed to thousands of children already born who die from neglect and physical abuse at the hands of their supposed caretakers?
My father-in-law has Parkinson’s disease. Stem cell research is one of the biggest hopes we have in finding a cure not just for that disease but also for MS and Huntington’s disease, among others. Is the plan to privatize this research? If so, who's paying for it? We're all going to end up paying for it in some other way; higher health care costs, anyone?
It’s so frustrating to me how much people are willing to fight (and kill) for the possibility of someone else's baby or just for the mere idea of a baby and yet, look away so easily at the death, destruction, and neglect that goes on around us on a daily basis. They may give a voice to the “unborn” but what about those children who already walk, already talk, and already feel? What about those children who already understand from the actions of adults around them that they are not wanted? What about those children…?
[1] Maugh II, Thomas H. “The Pair Behind the Stem Cell Suit,” Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, August 25, 2010, A10 and Kaplan, Karen, “Scientists Rush to Use or Redirect Stem Cell Funds,” Los Angeles, Times, Wednesday, August 25, 2010, A10.
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