The Donors Have Spoken

[Red Lion]

June 20, 2007 - As the debate over the use of human embryos in research continued with today's presidential veto of yet another stem-cell bill, a new survey of more than 1,000 infertility patients found that 60 percent were willing to donate their frozen embryos to stem-cell research. The study, conducted at Johns Hopkins University and published in the journal Science, found that the couples were nearly three times more likely to donate their embryos for stem-cell research than for adoption. These donations could make an additional 80,000 to 100,000 embryos available to researchers, says coauthor of the study Ruth Faden. NEWSWEEK's Sarah Kliff spoke with Faden, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19339342/site/newsweek/

[kevin1]

I just don't grasp the controversy, do all the experimenting you want with stem cells, just don't ask the taxpayers to fund it. If it lives up to it's promise there will be no shortage of private funding. If the source is what's at issue then I believe Mr. Spock covered it quite nicely when he said "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.", so it's really nobody's business where they originate other than the donors and recipients. When you use a frozen embryo that would otherwise be discarded you aren't killing a human since an unplanted embryo cannot sustain itself outside a host body and is therefore not "alive"in the first place.

[BenGarrett]

I disagree with Bush on plenty of issues and I'm mad enough to bite nails over his comments on the immigration debate, but I'm glad we have a president who's a man of principle who doesn't give in on something just to appease a perceived majority.