Posted on 10/24/2007 5:10:31 AM PDT by Quiet Man Jr.
I stand corrected and apologize for my previous alert. Mitt Romney apparently thinks he is endorsing a way of getting embryonic stem cells without killing embryos. See excerpt from his own article next:
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=ZmY2OTUxMTgyZmM0ZDkwMGRmMzhkYjAxZmMyOWZlM2U
"I studied the issue for many months, and entered into conversation with experts from across the nation who were looking for consensus solutions, like Stanford’s Dr. William Hurlbut. In the end, I became persuaded that the stem-cell debate was grounded in a false premise, and that the way through it was around it: by the use of scientific techniques that could produce the equivalent of embryonic stem cells but without cloning, creating, harming, or destroying developing human lives.
A number of such techniques have begun to emerge in recent years, and as last week’s exciting scientific publications showed, some of the world’s best stem-cell scientists are hard at work bringing them to fruition. Moreover, two of these techniques, Altered Nuclear Transfer and Direct Reprogramming could produce patient-specific stem-cell lines for the study of diseases. Our government should encourage and support these scientific developments, rather than undermine the effort to find a solution. Finding cures to diseases using methods that uphold ethical principles and sustain social consensus should be the objective of America’s approach to stem-cell research."
However, MIT's Rudolf Jaenisch, an ESCR proponent, did the ANT trials and by his admission in scientific papers, those trials produce embryos which are genetically disabled from implanting into a woman's uterus, so they die no matter what. Romney may not be aware of the details. Here's info from the Jaenisch site:
http://www.wi.mit.edu/news/archives/2005/rj_1016.html
"Researchers offer proof-of-concept for Altered Nuclear Transfer
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Oct. 17, 2005) - Scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have successfully demonstrated that a theoretical-and controversial-technique for generating embryonic stem cells is indeed possible, at least in mice.
The theory, called altered nuclear transfer (ANT), proposes that researchers first create genetically altered embryos that are unable to implant in a uterus, and then extract stem cells from these embryos. Because the embryos cannot implant, they are by definition not "potential" human lives. Some suggest that this would quell the protests of critics who claim that embryonic stem cell research necessitates the destruction of human life. Scientists and ethicists have debated the merits of this approach, but so far it has not been achieved..."
Disabled embryos are not non-embryos. It is unethical to purposely manipulate the genectic makeup of embryos so that they cannot survive.
* Stem cells * Gay rights * Abortion * Immigration * Health Care * Foreign Policy * Guns
On all those issues, Mitt has tried to play both sides, pandering at will depending on who he's speaking to at the moment.
I don’t have any problem with stem cell research. I just don’t think I should have to subsidize it.
True, they're not *potential* human lives. They're *actual* human lives, and the fact that the witch doctor has intentionally given them a fatal genetic disorder doesn't make it OK to experiment on their bodies or kill them. It just means that he committed murder when he gave them the disorder.
I don't either, as long as it doesn't involve killing people.
You’ve gotta understand though that no one is proposing that embrionic stem cell research be banned. The fight is over whether your tax dollars should subsidize it.
I’m in favor of whole-body adult stem-cell flensing processes, particularly where the process involves a Liberal without “problems” with embryonic stemcell technology.
I'm well aware of the parameters of the current debate. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't fight for an outright ban down the road, but first we have to at least get the government to stop actively encouraging and subsidizing it.
I can buy that. If you can’t stop them from subsidizing it, you certainly can’t get them to ban it.
Well I’ll be - a reasonable retraction. Thanks for correcting the record.
Swordfished wrote “Well I’ll be - a reasonable retraction. Thanks for correcting the record.”
You’re welcome. It’s important to be fair.
I should add that even if the embryonic persons weren’t engineered to die, they would die by the mere extraction of their stem cells. So either way, it’s murder.
You are correct. All embryos are human lives, not potential lives. There is a potential for life when a man and woman are having intercourse. Once conception as occured, there is a human life. These are human lives they are destroying. They just gave them a fatal genetic disorder, so they would die regardless if they experimented on them or not. Whether they kill them healthy or kill them by making them ill, they are still killing them. The key to ending abortion and ESCR is getting people to realize that personhood begins at conception.
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