The media and politicians continue to pretend that ESCR will generally be restricted to frozen leftover embryos that are “going to be discarded anyway.” As I have been arguing for several years, this “limited” permissibility is, at most, just a way-station to gain public approval, not anywhere close to the final destination. And indeed, some states now explicitly permit the creation of new human embryos via SCNT cloning, although they pretend that the product of cloning isn’t really an embryo.
This story in the National Post (Canada) shows that scientists are eager to gain access to “fresh,” sexually created embryos, as well. “Some scientists argue their success rate in harvesting stem cells is better with fresh, than frozen embryos. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the country’s leading research agency, last summer authorized the use of fresh embryos for a stem cell project, provided the researchers acquired proper consent and documentation from the donors.”
Moreover, it is definitely worth noting that the ethical guidelines of the National Academy of Sciences would also permit the creation of embryos through fertilization for use and destruction in research. (More details here.)
But that doesn’t fly yet politically. So, we will continue to hear much about the leftover embryos, as most of the media ignore the real story that is unfolding before their very eyes.
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