Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on February 13, 2011 at 4:11pm

Guys, a little earlier an Admin account comment was posted, pointing out how topics that delve into politics or religion typically go down in flames. If there's nothing else to add to the topic, let's please NOT take it in a new flame-prone direction.

Permalink Reply by Tony R. on February 13, 2011 at 4:18pm

Dickengel: I don't log in here very often any more but I wanted to thank you for bringing this to my attention. Because of this thread, i just wrote a check for $150.00 to the JDRF.

Cheers,
Tony

Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 13, 2011 at 4:21pm

The fundamental problem with this whole "every embro is a human being" argument is that human DNA - so-called "potential human life" -- is destroyed by the billions every, single day.

Every time a man "spills his seed" he is destroying potential human life.

Every time a woman goes through her cycle without seeking insemination she is destroying potential human life.

Every time a religious or asexual person chooses a life of celibacy, they are destroying potential human life.

Every time a man chooses to have a vasectomy, he is destroying potential human life.

Every time a woman gets her tubes tied, she is destroying potential human life.

And yes, every time a woman has an abortion, she is destroying potential human life.

I have had a cycle every month for the past forty-two years and have never had a baby. I guess that makes me a mass murderer? I've let over 500 eggs die unfertilized. Am I worse than Ted Bundy? All those potential lives lost?

Human beings are precious. Every scrap of human DNA is not.

Some people believe something so magical happens at the moment of conception that it trumps all other human considerations. Others do not. Who is correct? Who knows?

Others feel the same way about monkeys, dogs and cats -- that they are unique and precious -- but they are used in experiments to save human lives every day. Are we evil for using medicines that were tested on apes? Maybe we are.

Personally, I'd rather use a treatment found from using the cells of an embryo (e.g. a "left over" or "extra" fertilized embryo not used in a fertility clinic that was going to be incinerated as medical waste if not used) than from torturing a living, breathing, sensate chimpanzee.

Would it be right for me to impose my sensibilities on this issue on everyone else, depriving them of a cure for quadriplegia? Or leukemia? Or type 1 diabetes? Or AIDS?

If someone feels so strongly against embryonic research, let them state their case. I will disagree. Not because I'm a monster who believes in "murdering babies" or all the other over-heated rhetoric of the anti-embryonic stem cell research propagandists. But because I believe those of us who will live full lives -- with conscious minds and sensing nerves -- have a right to seek cures for the myriad diseases that attack us. And that the sacrifice of a few fertilized eggs that were going to be thrown away anyway is nothing less than the brilliant, prudent and wise use of human DNA for humankind.

Perhaps it is an ethical slippery slope. I think the opposite. I think that all this precious but wasted human DNA should be used to help bring about a golden age where we can alleviate the suffering of billions.

Permalink Reply by Lauren on February 13, 2011 at 5:54pm

Thank you for this posting, JeanV.

Permalink Reply by Sue59 on February 13, 2011 at 5:13pm

JeanV, very well put. Thank you

Permalink Reply by Sue59 on February 13, 2011 at 5:24pm

How about if we all watch Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMx6X26iJ_c

Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on February 13, 2011 at 5:31pm

"We're going to have to sell the lot of you for medical experiments..."

Permalink Reply by TuDiabetes Administration on February 13, 2011 at 5:55pm

This topic is being closed following an earlier post made this am.

We don't state in our values that we don't talk about politics or religion: we are humans and as such, we have political and religious views. But we've come to learn that these are two topics never lead to "happy" endings in an online forum...

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