Bioethics in the News — Friday, February 17, 2006
February 17, 2006
Stem Cell Showdown in the Show Me State
Missouri is currently in the midst of a debate over whether the state government should fund cloning and embryonic stem cell research. Yesterday, at the Missouri Press Association Day at the state Capitol, two scientists debated the issue, zeroing in on the essential question: “It comes down to whether you view the cells created by the process [somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)] to be a person.” One professor “believes that cells in a Petri dish are not persons.” This language of person is meant to indicate a category distinct from human being. In this way of thinking, not all human beings are persons—not all human beings deserve equal treatment, only persons. This is dangerous. Human beings and human persons are one in the same. For a discussion of why human beings and human persons are one in the same, see “What Does It Mean to Be Human?” by Teresa Iglesias.
Eggs in Arizona
The Arizona House Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 “to criminalize the practice of buying and selling human eggs.” The bill allows women to donate eggs, but forbids “money or other valuable consideration.” The egg issue has united people across the political spectrum because of its inherent danger, its commodification of human tissue, and its potential to exploit women. According to Capitol Media Services, advertisements indicate that “women can earn up to $24,000 for six separate egg donations.” The bill now moves to the full House for consideration.
In Depth Back and Forth over Alternative Stem Cell Proposals
Several proposals for obtaining stem cells with the same power as embryonic stem cells (i.e., pluripotent) but which do not require the destruction of human embryos have been floated in the past year or so (see “‘Ethical’ Embryonic Stem Cell Research?” for a brief overview). The magazine Communio: International Catholic Review has recently published an in-depth series of articles on two of the proposals, Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT) and Oocyte Assisted Reprogramming (OAR). Serious reading on a serious topic.
