Embryonic Stem Cells Redux

I have and remain very critical of our President and his administration on a variety of issues. On this blog I have been up-front about those issues and free with my criticisms, which have never devolved into the ad hominem nonsense that comprises a lot of political commentary these days. However, I pride myself on being first and foremost a Catholic. Hence, I do not see myself as being overly ideological, but then who doesn't consider themselves a non-ideological moderate? It is best left to others to judge. Nonetheless, I am always happy to give credit where credit is due. There are two issues in particular on which President Bush and his administration have been steadfast and correct. These two issues are support for marriage and family and opposing the expansion of embryonic stem cell research beyond the lines that were in circulation when President Bush, just prior to 9/11/01, in a nationally televised speech, issued his policy. Of course, the President's policy articulated in that speech was not a 100% solution, but was, on my private view, an acceptable political compromise.

Today, our Congress, the House of Representatives in particular, is voting on a Democrat-sponsored bill that will make federal funds available for the highly immoral practice of harvesting embryonic stem cells from aborted fetuses and the creation of embryos for the express purpose harvesting these cells for research. Such a reversal of federal law would only contribute to the culture of death. This will be the first opportunity for the so-called Blue Dog Dems, who are socially conservative, to show both their color and their species by opposing this legislation, thus calming fears about a Democratic-controlled Congress enacting a lot of far-left, often called progressive, but which is frequently transgressive, legislation. Sadly, Orrin Hatch, one of Utah's two Republican senators, is an enthusiastic supporter of embryonic stem cell research. Now, I know that Hatch is a senator and not a representative, but there is a seperate bill in the Senate, that is similar, of which Hatch is a sponsor. A conference committee will produce a bill that will, by all indications, wind up on the President's desk. So, write your representative and our two senators and let them know that you oppose the creating and taking of innocent human life for any purpose whatsoever. We are fortunate that President Bush has promised to veto this legislation.

It seems odd to me that this bill is part of the Democrat 100 hour agenda, especially in light of the recently publicized possibility of extracting embryonic stem cells from amniotic fluid. This crucial late-breaking development should, if prudence were to prevail, result in pulling back this divisive, controversial, and immoral piece of legislation. The Church has already given its moral approval to extracting stem cells from amniotic fluid in the person of Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, who "said the discovery showed medicine can progress without destroying human embryos".

Lest you doubt my word, I refer you to a leading expert in the field, Dr. Maureen Condic, who has written a number of articles on this matter for non-experts in the journal First Things. I compiled links to her articles in an earlier post on this blog. You can access these articles for free and without registration: Embryonic Stem Cells: Why not?