Today in class we discussed the moral status of the human embryonic stem cells and came to two conclusions.
1. The stem cells have the same moral status as say a piece of skin tissue because
the stem cell at that point is simply a concentrated mass of human DNA and
other cell matter.
OR
2. The stem cells have the same moral status as a human being because of the
symbolic nature of these cells, in that in a few weeks they will resemble humans
and become self aware.
I most agree with the first statement and thus for the discussion below will assume that it is true.
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Currently, the act of abortion is legal in the United States and thus millions of abortions are performed each year. I propose that these embryonic stem cells be used to conduct stem cell research. If there were a central organization that conducted this type of research, then this lab would be provided with millions of embryonic stem cells that were willingly given up by the woman having an abortion. So, in a sense, it is as if a woman was ridding herself of these cells, much like a cosmetic surgery, liposuction, or a more closely related action, masturbation by males. The embryonic stem cells could then be used because the woman having the abortion never intended for human life to proliferate and thus there is a simple comparison of this action to male masturbation, which most people deem a moral act. If this idea were to be allowed into commission, then, whether believing in the aforementioned number one view of the moral status of these stem cells, it should give some moral foundation to the practice. (And if not it still has the same moral foundation as say animal research.)
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2 comments:
I have to only agree with you to a certain extent. I think by bringing abortion into this, you are opening a whole new "can of worms." I am not totally 100% pro-life, no abortion, but I don't think people should be having sexual relations with each other with no protection and abortion in mind. I think that is abusing the power of abortion, but I also believe that if people were given that option, then they would abuse the system and say they were just trying to help scientific research, when in actuality they weren't being responsible. I only agree with abortion for women who are sexually assaulted and are bearing a child from a man that harmed them. Therefore, I think those are the only embryonic cells you can take from abortion. I think you can take other embryonic cells from the millions scientist already have that are going unused, and from babies that die naturally during their prenatal period.
I agree with you that people end up abusing the abortion privilege given to then through law, but that is similar with any other privilege people are given. So, there is no real way to control this until some law is created to restrict this action. Therefore, there is no sense in these embryonic stem cells going to waste just because they weren't aborted the way we want them to be.
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