The Debate Rages On

The ink from President Bush’s first veto had barely dried when an announcement by the biotech lab Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) resurrected a heated debate on a controversial subject. Dr. Robert Lanza stated that some progress had been made in finding a way to extract stem-cells lines from embryos that would not involve the actual destruction of the embryo. Some are hoping that the recent discovery will help bridge the moral gap between those who argue for expanded research on embryonic-stem-cells for research purposes and those who are concerned that such research is abhorrent since it involves the wanton destruction of human life. Lanza’s research is hardly conclusive and many questions remain over whether or not his vision is feasible and then, even if it is, would it be ethical?

The procedure is taken from a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which is used for in vitro fertilization. Lanza was able to obtain single cells from 16 embryos that had been allowed to grow to the 8 and 10-cell stage, and from there, cultivate two of those cells (taken from the original embryo) into new embryonic-stem-cell lines. Lanza asserts that embryos that have lost a cell have previously been able grown into babies after having been implanted into the mother, so this procedure should fall within the parameters of what is ethically permissible since the embryos may potentially still develop into babies. However, the crux of the problem remains.

Granted, embryos would not be destroyed outright, but they would still be tampered with for utilitarian research purposes. Certainly the new procedure may not be as evil as the original method, but it still must be rejected on moral grounds. Richard Doerflinger of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said the following, “We’re against manipulating, harming, assaulting embryos for their cells even if it doesn’t always kill them.” In Rome, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life said during an interview on Vatican Radio, that "Even if it (PGD) didn't damage the embryo, it's still an issue of an invasive, unjustified operation on a human being. ... You're going in, taking a piece of a embryo's organism to use for yourself." This new procedure reminds me of organ donation, without the vital consent of the donor. So it would not be an organ donation so much as organ thievery.