Embryonic Stem-cell Research - A True Faustian Bargain :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Embryonic Stem-cell Research - A True Faustian Bargain In the debate over whether the federal government should fund embryologic stem-cell look for (ESCR), our country is being offered a true Faustian bargain. In return for a hoped-for potential - it is no more than that - of deriving desperately in demand(p) medical breakthroughs in the treatment of such afflictions as Parkinsons disease, paraplegia, and diabetes, we are being asked to give the nations imprimatur to reducing human life into a classical natural resource to be exploited and commodified. Given the stakes, our lawmakers owe it to their country to take the time to thoroughly understand the issue before speaking in public and taking sides. Unfortunately, some senators statements in favor of embryonic research exhibited stunning ignorance regarding the subject about which they opined. Making matters worse, the press quickly leaped upon the statements of these pro-life senators as proof that embryonic research is mo ral, ethical, and scientifically justified, when the reverse is actually true. Senator Hatchs attempt to explain his pro ESCR funding position to Chris Matthews on Hardball on June 20, demonstrated that he doesnt know an embryo from a stem cell. Take the following statements * After a long period of study and prayer, I found that pluripotent cells are not full human beings but stick out be very, very beneficial as use of goods and servicesd by science to help with all kinds of maladies.... * It is appropriate to use pluripotent cells but inappropriate to use totipotent cells because a pluripotent cell cannot be made into a full human being. A totipotent cell can actually be replicated into a human being through even cloning. (Totipotent cells are the first to appear after fertilization and can actually mount into a completely new embryo - as occurs during identical twinning. Pluripotent stem cells appear a bit later. They are undifferentiated cells that can develop into any proboscis part - which is why researchers wish to study them.) * Life begins in the mothers womb, not in a refrigerator.(Embryonic) In stating that the feds should fund the study of pluripotent cells but not totipotent cells, Senator Hatch confused several essential points. First, pluripotent cells and totipotent cells are not the same thing as the embryo itself. Rather, these cells are constituent parts of the embryonic whole just as vital organs are parts of born persons.