It was inevitable, but it’s still sad. No, not the death and funeral of pop star Michael Jackson—but the increased funding for embryonic stem cell research that (coincidentally I’m sure) has been forced off the front page.
New Guidelines For What Will Be Federally Funded
Only those stem cells derived from tiny babies whose parents created—and then rejected—them can be used under the new guidelines—the so-called “excess embryos.” Also included are lines created under other circumstances that fit “the spirit” of this new requirement. Whatever that means.
Incidentally, these new guidelines come after Obama dismissed the entirety of his bio-ethics advisory panel last month. Ethics advisors, obviously, being superfluous to ethical decisions.
Cures Versus Misplaced Hope
Importantly, adult stem cells have successfully treated 73 diseases. Embryonic stem cells, despite the hype, have treated none.
Bradley Hughes, a former fellow with an arm of the Family Research Council put it really well:
. . . the power of adult stem cells is not nebulously potential, but tangible and real, as it has produced wonderful results in multiple cases. These have been documented in clinical trials, that is, treatments with human patients. … It is also important to note that all of these successes have come exclusively from adult stem cell research. Embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of early human life to acquire the cells, has not produced any successes in human patients.
Researchers continue to push for this research on human embryos, because it holds “promise.” They’re trying to justify blatantly immoral acts with “hope” for future discoveries. Don’t let them get away with it.
Watch For Erosion of “Excess” Standard
Researchers admit they don’t really want embryos that have been frozen for years to do their research on anyway. They want “fresh” newly created embryos that don’t have freezer burn.
So I expect we’ll see the argument shift away from the current “they were going to be disposed of anyway” to something like I saw in a USA Today article from several years ago. Those scientists argued that it was more “ethically pure” to get the consent from egg and sperm donors to create embryos for research purposes than to use embryos that someone had considered letting grow into an adult.
Face the Truth Begins Friday
Our 10th Face the Truth Tour kicks off on Friday in the Joliet area. I hope you are able to join us—whether in body or in spirit.
The inauguration of the Obama administration has tended to make things more difficult on pro-lifers, but our lawyers at the Thomas More Society have sent letters to every city we will be visiting to remind them of our first amendment rights. In fact, we received a phone call from the Joliet Chief of Police, apologizing for the way we were treated in that city last year—so join us for what will be an excellent tour!
Friday we’ll be in Joliet at West Jefferson Street and North Larkin Avenue at 9am. At 11:30 we’ll be at Route 59 and Black Road in Shorewood. And at 3pm we’ll be back in Joliet at Route 59 and Caton Farm Road. Saturday we’ll be in the Evanston area, and Monday and Tuesday we’ll be downtown. Call our office (773-777-2900) or click here for the full schedule.
Protest at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh
We recently received an e-mail from Mary Kay Brown, a pro-life activist in Pittsburgh:
We are inviting prolifers from all over the country to join us here in Pittsburgh to witness to the sanctity of life! We are offering to feed and house pro-lifers from Wednesday, September 23 through Saturday, Wednesday, September 26. World leaders and thousands of reporters are coming for the G20 summit.
The summit will be 2 blocks from one of the longest running Planned Parenthood killing centers in the country.
For more information, please call Mary Kay at 412-983-9366.
