The Truth About Stem Cell Research....

Stem cell research is hot and heavy in the forefront of the news right now, thanks to Michael J. Fox and Rush Limbaugh. Unfortunately, so many people don't have all the facts, and therefore, even some Catholics tend to believe that there is nothing wrong with suppporting it.

There has been a great deal of misinformation fed to the public regarding stem cell research. Michael Coren’s column (Wrong side on stem cells) addressed this admirably, however, there is still much educating to be done. Michael Coren, for those who have not been blessed enough to ever read any of his columns or books, is a regular columnist for the Sun media group in Canada. Please check him out at www.michaelcoren.com. He is an AMAZING writer!

There are many problems with the use of embryonic stem cells because they are not compatible with adult tissues. Rejection of tissue, as well as the formation of life-threatening tumors is commonplace, and just two of the reasons why stem cells from embryos are not ideal. There has yet to be even ONE successful procedure using these stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are designed to further the rapid growth of a human embryo, not to further human engineering!

Adult stem cells and stem cells from umbilical cords have been shown to consistently have positive results in clinical trials. Adult and cord blood stem cell therapies are used every day in the treatment of nearly a hundred different diseases. In fact, umbilical cord blood stem cells have been used over 3000 times to successfully treat 45 different diseases. We need to do SO MUCH MORE to encourage the donations of umbilical cords...this is a highly accessible source of stem cells, made available every time a baby is born.

Well known biomedical ethicist Dr. David Reardon explains clearly on his website (www.elliotinstitute.org) why so many organizations are
pushing for embryonic stem cell research: “scientists and researchers are enamored with the possibilities of experimenting with human embryos and human cloning.” It sounds terribly "mad-scientistish", but unfortunately, many of the researchers are indeed looking to not cure current diseases, but to create beings free from these diseases in the first place. For further information, check out Dr. Reardon's website on this subject.

One reader to the Sun wrote in, complaining that Mr. Coren's language was "inflammatory", because he refers to the embryos as children. Michael Coren’s language is far from inflammatory; it is the truth. “Days-old” embryos are indeed unborn children. What do people actually think the embryos are, unborn ducks, or frogs, perhaps? Embryonic stem cells are harvested from “surplus” embryos left over from invitro fertilization. These are unborn humans already 5-7 days old, with sex, height and every other characteristic determined.

The public needs to be made aware of the overwhelming superiority of adult and umbilical cord stem cells. This will only happen through education, and the persistence of pro-lifers of ensuring the media reports the truth.