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Ethics Moral Position Description Stem Cell Research contributes greatly to our understanding of human biology. However, it is not possible for one to predict the outcome from basic research. Still, the studies will offer some possibilities for treatments and for cures for many diseases in which therapy will not work. I feel that stem cell research is necessary to have in order to discover cures and medicine for known and unknown diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, spinal cord injuries and burns... Which is why federal funding is vital to promote investment in this line of research. Federal funding is the only realistic source for such an infusion of funds.
Without the help of federal funding, treatments to these types of diseases could be delayed. Besides, knowing that your tax dollars are going to help save someones life, as opposed to paying for foolishness or something that will not even be accounted is foolishness. Why not make a difference? To understand thoroughly what the researchers do, you have to define what stem cells are and what they can accomplish. Stem cells have the ability to divide for indefinite periods in culture and to give rise to specialized cells. Human development begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg and creates a single cell that has the potential to form an entire organism.
In the first hours after fertilization, this cell divides into identical cells. This means that either one of these cells, if placed into a woman's uterus, has the potential to develop into a fetus. Embryonic stem cells are considered to be important to researchers. They are of great interest to medicine and science because of their ability to develop into virtually any other cell made by the human body. Research is required to determine how to control the differentiation of stem cells so they will be beneficial and effective.
Research is also necessary to study the potential of immune rejection of the cells, and how to overcome that problem. Religious leaders play a vital role in determining whether or not its moral for people to be exploring stem cell research. The United States Roman Catholic Bishops believe that stem cell research is immoral, illegal, and unnecessary. Life is sacred from the moment of conception. (Bob Abernathy 1) Ronald M. Green, the author of the article The Stem Cell Conundrum, gave his viewpoints on what the people really were saying. He points out that the: Roman Catholics are divided up into two sub-communities.
Both sub-communities have different backgrounds concerning their religious standpoints and whats moral or immoral. He also noted that the majority of people who do not attend mass on a regular basis, the Democrats, believe in pro-choice on abortion, and they support stem cell research. The other percentage of regular church going Catholics strongly oppose abortion and believe in the churches teachings on sexuality and reproduction. More or less were Republicans (Vol 4, No. 3).
According to the Christian Coalition, from the article Stem Cell Research: Religious Groups Weigh In, embryonic stem cell research is a violation of human rights. If the United States Government were to place its stamp of approval on the destruction of living human embryos in order to obtain stem cells, it would be the first time that our government has declared that a non-consenting human being may be exploited and killed for experimental research purposes. The killing of human beings is never justified for research ends (Stem Cell Research: Religious Groups weigh In 1). Edward Reichman, an Orthodox Rabbi and physician at New Yorks Einstein College of Medicine claims that the Jewish position is that a fertilized embryo in a petri dish does not have the status of human life, and if such an embryo can be used to cure diseases and save lives that is something we would welcome with open arms. " (A 04) However, opponents of the procedure argue that it involves the destruction of life and, in the words of Cardinal Theodore Mc Carrick of Washington, beckons scientists to "take on the role of God and reduce humans to mere spare parts. " Adin Steinsaltz, an Israeli rabbi and well-known Talmudic scholar, said Jews generally reject the notion that human beings should not "interfere with the handiwork of God. "We believe that mankind is given not only the permission but the reproach to make the world better. (A 04) There is a moral commitment for healing and for relieving suffering caused by injury and illness. For biblically based traditions, this commitment reflects a responsibility to serve as partners with God.
Unfortunately, Christians cannot turn to the Bible for a specific verse to tell us if the embryo has the same rights as other humans. However, when Scripture mentions the unborn, the context is almost always one of Gods protection for them and His vision for their lives (Psalm 139: 13 - 17; Isaiah 44: 1 - 2; Jeremiah 1: 3). On the other hand in regard to stem cell research, there is a need to be cautious in pursuing the promise of the research and to strive to anticipate and minimize its potential harms and misuses. In recognizing this, there is some that oppose of embryos and fetuses can accept the view that research on the cellular materials remaining from the act is not always unethical. In the context of the abortion issue, a series of criteria has proposed to determine the moral status of the pre-implantation's of the human embryo. Michael Kinsley, from the article If you Believe Embryos are Humans, provided his viewers with his adamant thoughts about embryos says To justify standing in the way of cures for some of humanity's most dreaded diseases, you have to accept the right-to-life argument in its most extreme form.
We " re talking here about newly formed embryos. These are not fetuses with tiny, waving hands and feet. These are microscopic groupings of a few differentiated cells. There is nothing human about them, except potential [to be a human]. (Kinsley 1) There is a question that needs to be raised dealing with involvement or cooperation with evil. It is clear that not all use of goods produced by wrongful acts are immoral.
It may be possible for stem cell research using embryonic tissues to be conducted in ways that many people otherwise opposed to embryo destruction would regard as morally acceptable. There are facts that make the decision to destroy an embryo and the decision to donate it for research even greater than is the case in fetal tissue research. In the article Cloning Debate Escalates With Appearance, written by the author Rick Weiss, Christopher Reeve the paralyzed "Superman" star who warned that extremists are poised to deny lifesaving treatments to the ill and with the Senates sole and closely watched physician giving the strongest hints yet that he is inclined to block the research because of ethical concerns. (Weiss A 02) There are public issues that need to be dealt with concerning the issue of Stem cell research. President George W. Bush, from the article Bush Presses Senate to Ban Cloning: says, "Life is a creation, not a commodity. It would be a mistake for the U.
S. Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber. " (Sonya Ross 1) This year, the government will spend $ 250 million on this important research. The House passed a ban on all human cloning in July but the Senate has not acted on it. Many senators object to the idea of cloning humans, but are not reluctant to cloning embryos for research that could cure disease. Sen. Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee, said he supports the Brownback ban an endorsement the White House viewed as key, because Frist is a heart-transplant surgeon whose views on medical topics are respected by his peers. "Does the promise of human cloning embryo experiments...
justify what is required today to conduct those experiments and that is the purposeful creation of human embryos for experimentation and destruction? The answer to that question to me is no. (Sonya Ross 1) He has decided to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, permitting American scientists to carry out experiments on about 60 stem cell cultures already in research facilities using government money. Bush feels that human life is a sacred gift from our Creator. By definition, research on embryonic stem cells involves the destruction of some human beings for the so-called benefit of others.
Therapeutic cloning goes one step further and entails the deliberate creation well as the sacrifice human embryos for the alleged good of others. It treats human life as a commodity to be manufactured when needed and destroyed when desired to achieve some "greater" purpose. If these are going to be destroyed anyway, why not use them for good purpose. Anti-abortion and ethics groups oppose such research because it results in human embryos being destroyed.
The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics argues the case like this: "The destruction of human embryonic life is unnecessary for medical progress, as alternative methods of obtaining human stem cells and of repairing and regenerating human tissue exist and continue to be developed. " There also recent polls that show how people feel about stem cell research. In the nationwide telephone poll of 998 adults, conducted July 10 - 11, 57 % said they don't know enough about the topic to say whether the federal government should fund research. When presented with information that stem cells would come from spare embryos from fertility clinics, the poll found that 54 % of Americans support funding of such research; 39 % oppose funding; 7 % had no opinion. In a question that may reveal a truer picture of the feelings of Americans on the issue, 54 % say the federal government should not permit scientists to create embryos for research -- something two groups reported doing this week -- while only 38 % say it is OK. In a question that may reveal a truer picture of the feelings of Americans on the issue, 54 % say the federal government should not permit scientists to create embryos for research -- something two groups reported doing this week -- while only 38 % say it is OK. Asked to choose between funding all stem cell research (both adult and embryonic), and funding only adult stem cell research and similar alternatives to see if there is no need to destroy embryos for research, Americans prefer the latter approach by an even wider margin (67 % to 18 %).
Meanwhile, the recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll showed that 34 % believe the research is morally wrong but may be necessary. Some 54 % believe the research is morally wrong but 69 % say it is necessary. This finding suggests pro-life advocates must do more to educate the public that equally valid alternatives to embryonic stem cell research exist, which have the potential to cure diseases. Perhaps most revealing was that only 38 % say they have followed the debate about government funding of stem cell research either very or somewhat closely.
When people start to live longer it affects the social world and the economical world. Due to the fact that people are living longer, the net increase in the 65 + population in the United States in 1998 was 145, 000, average of 396 per day. 5 While the worlds population keeps growing at 1. 7 %, the population over 65 increases by 2. 5 % each year. It is also estimated that in the year 2025, 30 % of the global population will be over the age of 80 (Klatz net). When people are living longer it greatly affects any nations economical framework. Living longer means being dependent or disabled in ones older years. Society will have extreme financial costs to sustain the elder population.
In the next 25 years, the old-age dependency rates will rise in every major world region. Still there can still be some extreme benefits to longevity. Such as when people have a longer life expectancy rate than they will tend to work longer and retire later in their lives. Thus stimulating the economy, and not hindering it. If the majority of the population works longer that means that more money will be made. Modern medicine will help anti-aging, and stem cells will help modern medicine get there (Klatz net).
Stem cell research will effect the economy and the social world greatly in the future. In conclusion, stem cell research does have a promising future, and it has the potential to help cure many of the worlds life-threatening diseases. Bibliography: Klatz, Ronald. The Benefits of Immortality. The Futurist Jan/Feb 2002: Proquest. Kruger, Jeffery.
Can We Learn to Beat the Reaper? Time. Jane 21, 2002: InfoTrac. Hibbing, MN, HHS Library. 6 March 2002. National Institutes of Health.
Stem Cells: A Primer. May 2000. 29 March 2002... Mc Conchie, Daniel. Using Stem Cells from Embryos Will Make Human Flesh Profitable. Analysis: Proquest.
Hibbing, MN, HHS Library. 8 March 2002. Trail, James. Brave New World. Smithsonian. December 2001: InfoTrac. Hibbing, MN, HHS Library. 5 March 2002.
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Research essay sample on Stem Cell Research Embryonic Stem Cells
