Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Ideology rather than saving lives?
So, Bush's veto on the bill for stem cell research is, in my opinion, completely absurd.
I have a friend whose father works for a fertility clinic. You know where those embryos go? In a freezer, and if they get the consent of the parents, they get trashed. I realize that each embryo has the potential to turn into a child, but why draw the line there? Does every egg count? Is having an ejaculation mass murder?
While we argue ideologically about the worth of "every single human life," we let embryos sit in a freezer or be discarded (which kind of nullifies the argument that this is over whether a stem cell has a "right to live," don't you think?) when we could be using this tissue that will (if we think pragmatically, at least) never ever develop into an actual human being for something that could be used productively to cure diseases.
It seems, sometimes, like the Bush administration enjoys idealogically arguing about lives more than actually saving them. I have trouble understanding how an embryo that will never develop has more of a right to not die than someone with cancer. Or for that matter, an Iraqi civilian child who is at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I have nothing but disparaging thoughts for this administration, and I cannot wait until the 2008 election, when I will finally be old enough to vote.
I have a friend whose father works for a fertility clinic. You know where those embryos go? In a freezer, and if they get the consent of the parents, they get trashed. I realize that each embryo has the potential to turn into a child, but why draw the line there? Does every egg count? Is having an ejaculation mass murder?
While we argue ideologically about the worth of "every single human life," we let embryos sit in a freezer or be discarded (which kind of nullifies the argument that this is over whether a stem cell has a "right to live," don't you think?) when we could be using this tissue that will (if we think pragmatically, at least) never ever develop into an actual human being for something that could be used productively to cure diseases.
It seems, sometimes, like the Bush administration enjoys idealogically arguing about lives more than actually saving them. I have trouble understanding how an embryo that will never develop has more of a right to not die than someone with cancer. Or for that matter, an Iraqi civilian child who is at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I have nothing but disparaging thoughts for this administration, and I cannot wait until the 2008 election, when I will finally be old enough to vote.
