Wednesday 11 March 2009

Three Cheers for Obama Again: Reinstating Stem Cell Research Without the Handcuffs



"Look! Its a Baby!!!!"

Pro-life: A cheesy colloquial term hogged by religious folks who clamor for the humane treatment of "unborn" babies, or in this case, fertilized embryos, plus a whole lot of emotional package to go along with it.

Curiously, most of us, it seems, will want to be "pro-life" in the practical sense of the word: No one wants to be caught dead slapping a monkey, or killing a pet rabbit, well, I mean, as long as the stomach isn't growling all that much, and we don't really need to feed extended families who incidentally also have growling stomachs just like ours.

Yup, pro-life and pro-choice are two synonymous words dealing with compassion. While it is true that many of us still consider poultry and livestock farming ethical ( We still love our bacon!), nonetheless humans are apt to be pro-life and pro-choice when it comes to sentient human beings, and sometimes, this crazy obsession with human life goes way beyond the pale.

Stem Cell Research
: A Baby-Killing Enterprise????

Misplaced Priorities.........

For the past eight years, stem cell research has languished in the United States, thanks in no small part to the Bush Administration's stupid and inept curbs on federal tax funding for stem cell research, particularly for research that deals with "unborn babies", i.e fertilized human embryos which have been artificially inseminated for the purposes of research.

While the Bush Administration did reserve special treatment for embryos, I do wonder, however, if Bush himself ever reserved such sentiments for adult humans, such as, say, the folks he regularly tortured in Guantanamo and other CIA facilities set up for just such a nefarious purpose??? Or the American soldiers who had been consigned to fight in a seemingly never-ending war in Iraqi?

These embryos, which are hardly visible unless they are viewed under the microscope, are highly regarded as potential homo sapiens based on one incredulous single notion that life begins at conception: The unbridled truth is that if we need to take the ethics of human life to the extremities of singular cellular organisms then one could also surmise that the process of masturbation kills of millions of potential babies in the form of sperm cells! Well, going by such astronomical figures, if a male stud jerks off, on average, 5 times a week, that number could very well amount to billions of murders in a single fucking year.! Heck, he'd be a worst mass murderer than all the tyrants that have ever existed (assuming, of course, these tyrants never masturbate!). And damn the women too, for shedding off their eggs once a month! Bloody murder is on the cards!

And thank goodness, then, that President Obama has the good sense and initiative to overturn these silly, presumptuous curbs on stem cell research, and as usual, the religious rights groups are howling and moaning about murder and infanticide. Jebus Fucking Christ!

Obama Overturns Bush Policy On Stem Cells

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research.

Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.

Obama also signed a presidential memorandum establishing greater independence for federal science policies and programs.

"In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said at the White House.

"In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."


Researchers highly value embryonic stem cells because of their potential to turn into any organ or tissue cell in the body. Stem cells have this ability for a short time.
A few days before the embryo would implant in the uterus, it starts to develop into specific cells that will turn into skin or eyes or other parts of a developing fetus.

Conservative leaders echoed Bush's rationale in their criticism of Obama's decision.

"Advancements in science and research have moved faster than the debates among politicians in Washington, D.C., and breakthroughs announced in recent years confirm the full potential of stem cell research can be realized without the destruction of living human embryos," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Sunday.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Minus Religious Regulations

Because of their ability to regenerate into organs, embryonic stem cells have a very good potential for development and treatment of many debilitating diseases, and obviously more work is required to realize its full potential.

With the Bush-era laws out of the way, albeit for perhaps a brief couple of years, scientists can finally carry on with their jobs without the nosey religious morons poking their noses into the scientific realm, where they obviously do not belong.

Furthermore, it is very unethical and downright cruel to ignore the plight of millions of folks who are stricken by some form of genetic disease, such as Alzheimer's and muscular atrophy. These folks are wasting away because medical science currently does not have the ability to eliminate these horrendous diseases. Their fates and their pain are very, very real, and if you think that the imagined plight of cellular embryos should take precedence over the pain of full-fledged adults then you need to take a trip down to a hospice which takes care of these patients (I have seen it first-hand, and believe me, it will rip your heart out, albeit not literally) and witness the suffering for yourself, firsthand.

After all, fertilized embryos are no more human babies than an omelet is a chicken drumstick, even if they are both equally palatable and delicious.

Stem Cell Research: A Beacon of Hope Against Genetic Diseases



-"These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases."

Former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, Who Lost Her Husband, President Ronald Reagan, To Alzheimer's Disease