Do the ends justify the means?
Last night I was having a discussion with my friend Annie over YM and out of the blue she brought up what my thoughts were on stem cell research. I was immediately ready for a good discussion on the subject and it ended up being that way. So what I'm doing here is posting about stem cell research and seeing what the readers of this blog think (however few or many there are, your opinion matters to me).First off I think it's only right to talk a little about what stem cell research actually is, along with some of the pros and cons involved in the whole situation.
I found a good site on stem cell research that briefly gives people the information they'd require with relatively easy language to understand.
First off, according to the site stem cells are essentially cells that are the 'stem' and they can branch off into many different types of other cells.
There are a few ways of obtaining the stem cells required for research. They are:
1. Left over embryos from fertility clinics where in-vitro fertilization had failed. These embryos are saved instead of being thrown in the garbage.
2. Fetuses from women at abortion clinics.
3. Cloning embryos for the purpose of research.
4. Mixing sperm and egg for the sole purpose of stem cell research.
This area of research creates a lot of mixed opinions and here are some pros and cons:
Pros:
- The stem cells allow for the creation of any combination of body parts without the use of a human donor, which saves lives.
- Many diseases that have been deemed un-curable could be treated properly.
- The requirement for testing on humans and animals would be unnecessary as stem cells react they same way a fullgrown human would to a certain drug.
Cons:
- Shady methods of obtaining embryos.
- Sale without knowledge of the mother.
- Issues regarding religion and social other social faux pas
My opinion:
I believe the ends do justify the means in this situation. I think that those who argue that a human life, whether it be embryo or not, isn't worth giving up no matter what the cause is extremely ignorant. They say it's not ethical to use the embryo for research but it's completly okay to chuck it in the garbage to be decomposed with last nights supper? Come on now!
One situation I vehemently disapprove of is the creation of these embryos for the sake of research. I believe they should only be obtained from abortions or left over embryos from in-vitro. If the doctor fails at creating a baby from in-vitro, why not donate it for research? If a woman decides to abort her child because she doesn't want it due to many different reasons, then she should be allowed to abort it, and that otherwise useless fetus should be allowed to go to research.
Another thing I brought up in our conversation last night was that pharmaceuticals are a HUGE part of any first world nation and they have a great deal of say in what happens regarding the health and well-being of people. The bottom line is, if they aren't making a shitload of money, they aren't going to approve any means of research that could actually cure people. If this happened, they'd be out of business and the economies of these nations would plummet. Add the support of certain powerful evangelical christians and you've got a no-win situation regardless of the benefit it would give to humanity.
Now if you'd like, you can give me your thoughts on the situation and discuss.
Peace.
posted by Sean @ 3:11 PM
Comments: 16
