Please forgive me if I'm bumping anyone who's not interested.
For those of you who are, consider passing this on to any pro-life doctor or scientist that you know, as well as anyone else. Here's the latest, with changes to allow for gene therapy, such as treatment for sickle cell disease, etc., and an explicit recommendation concerning terminology.
Alternate Recommendation on Cloning, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, and Human Genome Manipulation.
We affirm that all human beings have the right to life and that no discrimination can be made between which human lives in regard to the right to receive legal protection from being killed by others, since all human beings should have equal protection of their human rights under the law. The only justification for the ending of a human life is to defend the life of a human being that is endangered by another, a condition that cannot be applied to cases of cloning or embryonic stem cells.
It is a matter of scientific fact that all embryos of human origin are members of the species Homo sapiens, since the embryo is a stage in the development of a member of the species rather than something that is “pre-human,” (Opitz, testimony to the President’s Bioethics Council). This fact does not depend upon whether the human embryo began life by the intentions and actions of other humans or not, in the laboratory, in the fallopian tube, or in the uterus.
We firmly support the traditional medical charge, “First, do no harm,” and do not support the belief that scientists should engage in research that is designed to destroy humans at any stage of life or which may manipulate the human genome in such a way as to cause unknown genetic changes in the offspring of human beings. This is not a legacy we want to leave those who come after us.
A standard, proper vocabulary consistent with the standard for human embryology (based on the internationally recognized Carnegie Staging nomenclature) for all natural, assisted and artificial reproduction - including in vivo and in vitro fertilization, asexual reproduction methods such as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT or cloning), embryo splitting, parthenogenesis, the production of human-non-human chimeras, and all future variations - should be used by all researchers, policy making bodies, and medical professionals, in order to encourage open discussion and debate and ethical conclusions. Physicians have a particular duty to educate the public and our patients regarding scientific research that may affect human lives and health, and a standard nomenclature and protocols will assist us in that duty.
The terminology outlined in Chapter 3 of the United States’ President’s Bioethics Council Report on Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry is consistent with international standards for human embryological terminology. This terminology has already been adopted by the American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs, AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and the National Institute of Health. The Report has affirmed that the cloned or parthenogenic human embryo is the genetic equivalent of the fertilized human embryo and that whether the human life began by design of other humans or by sexual or asexual means does not change the fact that they are, indeed, human embryos.
The research on umbilical cord stem cells and adult stem cells has been fruitful and the results are already being used to treat diseases, without cost of human life. All embryonic and cloned embryo stem cell use is purely theoretical at this point in time, and will require the harvesting of an immense quantity of human oocytes and the deliberate killing of an unknown number of nascent human lives before the utility of embryonic stem cells, if any, is known.
The Texas Medical Association recommends:
1. That the standardized terminology such as that in use by the National Institutes of Health (which is based on internationally recognized human embryology, the Carnegie Staging nomenclature, and the President’s Council on Bioethcs) be used whenever possible in discussing human embryology, stem cells, and cloning.
2. All research on cloning and cloned human beings, parthenotes, embryonic stem cells or the manipulation of the human genome and all other methods of obtaining or artificially constructing human embryos, stem cells, and research material that requires or depends on the destruction of human life be stopped immediately and banned by our laws, professional organizations and associations, institutes of higher learning, and private businesses.
3. All previous conflicting policies of professional organizations, institutes of higher learning and private businesses, as well as the laws of the United States be rescinded to reflect the views outlined above.
4. Research should focus on methods which do not require the killing of or genomic changes to members of the human species. Research on umbilical cord and adult stem cells and treatment of disease that does not risk changes to the human gene pool should be encouraged, instead.
For more information on stem cells, cloning, and human research:
The President’s Bioethics Council
http://www.bioethics.gov/ Information on current human embryology, “ Early Embryonic Development: An Up-to-Date Account (Opitz)”
http://www.bioethics.gov/transcripts/jan03/session1.html The information on stem cells can be found at
http://www.bioethics.gov/topics/stemcells_index.html National Institute of Health on Stem Cells and cloning
http://stemcells.nih.gov/infoCenter/stemCellBasics.asp Current AMA policy on stem cell research
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/2036-7819.html Stem cell FAQs
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/5245-7264.html