Life is Murder

At a time of bitter conflict in Washington, it is remarkable that the House of Representatives this week may witness a rare victory by a bipartisan, moderate coalition on a major social issue. (Seattle Times)

There should be a cooperative effort to move this research forward. Embryonic stem cells offer an extraordinary opportunity for advances in medicine. And how does President Bush treat this rare bipartisan surge, when members of his own party stand in opposition of him (e.g. Governor Romney)?

"I made it very clear to Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life is -- I'm against that."

So...let's start at the most fundamental level; then we'll work out the moral issues. He is against destroying life in order to save life? By his own logic, the President should be against EATING. Regardless of which diet plan you endorse--omnivore, frugivore, insectivore--whenever you eat something you are destroying the life or potential life of another organism. So, we are all murders because we destroy potential life in order to sustain our own. We are such greedy bastards.

We also murder potential life through our basic biological processes. Every menstrual cycle slaughters an egg, and thus, a potential life. The casualties mount even more swiftly each time a man masturbates: Every Sperm is Sacred!

If by our very nature we must destroy life in order to exist, why should scientific procedures be any different? Successful in vitro fertilization generally requires the formation of many zygotes. Many potential lives are created in order for one to fully develop. What is to be done with the embryos that are not used? Flush 'em? Why not donate them to scientific endeavors that will save lives?

If the zygotes are going to be trashed anyway, why is there so much resistance to advances in stem cell research?