Allowing the Use of Discarded IVF Embryos for Stem Cell Research Is Essay

Allowing the Use of Discarded IVF Embryos for Stem Cell Research Is Ethical - Essay Example There are several sources of stem cells. Adult stem cells can be taken from an individual, coaxed into becoming something useful in therapy, and transplanted back into the body. However, the usefulness of adult stem cells is limited, because not all types of cells have been isolated, and they are difficult to isolate because they occur in minute quantities in adults (NIH 11). Embryonic stem cells are the most flexible and can be obtained from in vitro fertilization patients, thus avoiding the moral quagmire of the abortion debate entirely. While visions of Nazi-level experimentation dance in our heads, it’s hard to come to a moral and logical conclusion regarding stem cell research. The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity comments, â€Å"If anything is to be gained from the cruel atrocities committed against human beings in the last century and a half, it is the lesson that the utilitarian devaluation of one group of human begins for the alleged benefit of others is a price we simply cannot afford to pay† (CBHD 53). By demonizing stem cell researchers as cold-blooded, immoral baby killers, this argument avoids actually defining the boundaries of human life and descends into rhetoric. A medical professional must put aside rhetoric and stick to the facts. The â€Å"if-then† scenarios put forth by the religious right are especially rhetorical. If they argue, we determine that a blastocyst or embryo isn’t viable because it can’t survive on its own (separate from major medical intervention or a mother’s womb), then we are only one small step away from using comatose patients in medical experiments (Sullivan 59). Again, the argument is not a scientific one; it is simply a drawing room discussion with no boundaries. Leftover embryos from IVF patients are no longer useful to those who would donate them, and their potentiality is limited.