OPINION:
President Obama’s executive order to lift restrictions on embryonic stem cell research showed a complete disregard for the dignity of both human life and U.S. law. Thankfully, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth exposed this corruption in his ruling last month (“Judge puts Obama stem cell policy on hold,” Page 1, Aug. 24).
Embryonic stem cell research is wrong because it destroys innocent human life by treating vulnerable human beings as mere products to be harvested. To destroy human embryos for research purposes implies that some lives have more value than others and that we may sacrifice some lives today so that future generations will benefit. It is not morally acceptable, however, to do evil hoping that good eventually may result from it. In fact, humans will never benefit from any kind of lethal exploitation.
If the government wants to invest in hope for cures and promote ethically sound science, it should use our tax monies for research that everyone, at every stage of human development, can live with.
Adult stem cells are known to have great versatility and increasingly are being used to reverse many serious illnesses, even to help rebuild damaged organs. To divert scarce funds away from these promising avenues would be a sad victory of politics over science.
NICK GILLSTRAP
New York
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