Aides to President-elect Obama are saying this week that Obama will reverse President Bush’s stand on embryonic stem cell research. So, according to Fox News, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan of Mexico, the Vatican health minister, said that stem cells taken from human embryos and involving the destruction of the embryos “serve no purpose.”
And he’s absolutely right. ESCR has produced no fruit while adult stem cells have done wonders. And now, scientists can create embryonic stem cells from other forms of stem cells so there’s absolutely no reason for Obama to support destroying embryos other than it would hamper his ability to demonize his political opponents for being anti-science. It really is that simple. And it is really that ghastly.
The cardinal said that embryonic stem cell research had not resulted in any significant health cure so far and was “good for nothing”.
Research on adult stem cells and umbilical cords had been shown to have “positive value”, by contrast, although even that was not “a panacea for everything.”
He said the Vatican would seek clarification of the new administration’s position on stem cells, and he himself was not “fully aware” what it was.
Obama is, of course, going to depend on two things in this. First, he’ll employ hyperbolic promises about the miraculous “promise” of ESCR to cure Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, hangovers, sunburn, botulism and dog bites. Secondly, he’ll use Joe Biden’s Catholicism as cover.
You see, Democrats love saying Republicans are anti-science even though we’re the ones who want to talk science about global warming while they scream, “The debate is over.” We’re the ones who want to make it possible for every woman to look into her womb and see the life inside of her before making any life and death decisions. They’re the ones who simply scream, “Get your Bible off my ovaries” or something charming like that.
Hmmm. I wonder what the 54 percent of Catholics who voted for Obama are thinking now? Oh wait a second. They’re not.
November 12, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Say he lifts the ban, how is he going to explain where we get the money to fund the research? Politics as usual, money the government does not have, pouring out the ears. It’s going to be a long four years.
November 12, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Just to make this clear, I am of course 100% pro-life and opposed to ESCR.
That said, it’s worth noting that the new technology that allows us to bypass embryonic cells has some potential pitfalls. I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by a priest who is a stem cell expert, and he said that this new method might likely cause tumors to form should it be implemented in a therapeutic way–if I remember correctly. Also, I don’t think scientists are able to derive these stem cells for research purposes yet. So I guess that’s why they want to use both approaches.
The priest’s point was that we definitely need to protect embryos, but that we should not jump the gun and say non-embryonic stem cells are just as useful for research purposes as embryonic ones. Hope this made sense.
November 12, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Though it really doesn’t matter about the effectiveness of embryonic stem-cells. It is the murdering of innocents that is key.
The one thing ESCR proponents never mention is that ESCR requires human cloning because of tissue rejection. So you have to create a clone of yourself and then kill it to cannibalize stem-cells. The majority of people have no idea about this.
November 12, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I’m not sure I buy that 54% of Catholics voted for Obama. First because the exit pools were generally unreliable (e.g. showing Obama with an 18% advantage when he only won by 6%) and secondly because lots of folks who answer “Catholic” when asked their religious affiliation in a poll haven’t seen the inside of a Church in years. I’d wait for more scientific polling that includes questions about frequency of church attendance before drawing any conclusions about Obama’s “win” among Catholics.
November 12, 2008 at 5:18 pm
anon – the 54% figure breaks down this way: 45% regular Church goers voted “YAYYYYY” for Obama; 63% voted “YIPPEEEE!!” for Obama. I believe the results are broken down at Rasmussen’s site.
November 12, 2008 at 6:20 pm
if embryonic stem cell research is so wonderfully successful (so say the libs) why doesn’t it have oodles of private money funding its progress?
Who is funding adult stemcell research? It can’t be wholly funded by the government, can it? So, guess what, free markets work again…people put their money where it works for them and society as a whole.
November 12, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I had a job at a prestigious private university where I raised money for the neurology program. It was low level and I ended up working on ESCR projects (I have confessed).
Anyhoo, there are private donors who provide seed money, particularly to get projects going. Once they’re underway, the grant money starts flowing. Generally people donate for the same exagerrated reasons you see demands for government money: They expect that this will heal their paralyzed daughter or their grandfather with MS.
I think you can make a strong argument that ESCR is an attack on the dignity of life in two ways:
1. As we all know, it destroys life.
2. It cements this notion that quality of life = value of life. For example, I think there’s a real, inherent belief in both secular and most religious people (not Catechized Catholics) that a life of suffering has less worth than a life of health and prosperity. Our Protestant culture does not help us in this second arena.
November 13, 2008 at 1:55 am
Matthew –
I do not understand this line – can you clarify, or is it a typo?
“scientists can create embryonic stem cells from other forms of stem cells “
Thanks