Thread: Stem cell research...

This goes back to the fundamental debate over when humanity begins. I know the whole thing may seem inane to our European brethren, but there is a bitter and sometimes violent debate on the issue in the U.S. There is a vocal minority in the U.S. (albeit a fairly large one) that believes that the moment sperm contacts egg, the result is fully human and possessed of full rights. That's why Mark would say a thing like "put your integrity and morals aside." Equally inflammatory things are said by the other side of the argument.

Most Americans -- around 2/3 -- believe that humanity is invested gradually over the period of pregnancy. That's why there is broad support for abortion in the first trimester, but less and less as the pregnancy progresses beyond the first three months. The dilation and extraction procedure was banned for that reason -- it had very little political support, as it occurs in the third trimester. Roe v. Wade, for example, specifically provides no support for abortion in the third trimester. Constitutionally, abortion can be banned in the third trimester. Politically, most Americans want some sort of exception to protect the lives of pregnant women.

The political wing of the anti-abortion faction has never dealt with the tens of thousands of fetuses that are discarded -- shall we say "killed" -- as a natural part of IVF. They don't seem to want to talk about it.

This is all by way of saying that there is broad support here for fetal stem cell research. This is why the new administration and Congress will almost certainly lift the ban.

j