Stem Cell Ban Lifted

President Barack Obama has lifted restrictions placed by ex-President George Bush on government funding for the creation of new stem cell lines.

Predictably, this has drawn fire from a number of religious groups, who say that it violates the sanctity of human life, as well as praise from the scientific community, who say that the research will cure conditions that are impossible to cure with current medical technology.

Why must there be such conflict between the religious and scientific groups? Clearly, saving lives is a noble thing to do, and should not conflict with any religious teaching. However, it is the creation of embryos for the express purpose of growing stem cells from them that irks the religious community the most.

It seems that there should be a rather obvious compromise to this dilemma. Very few groups oppose organ donation. Why not proceed with stem cell research under the same principle?

According to the American Pregnancy Association, there are approximately 2 million miscarriages a year in the United States alone. There should be no difficulty in securing more than enough miscarried embryos to use for research. Imagine the comfort that could be given to a grieving ex-mother-to-be, knowing that even though her child will never see the light of day, it will still play a part in saving the lives of other people.

Using miscarried embryos to grow stem cells violates the sanctity of human life no more than burying them in the ground does, and neither the religious nor the scientific communities should be able to raise any moral objections to it.

While some maintain that miscarried embryos are of inferior quality to embryos grown for the express purpose of stem cell research, is that really worth the rift that the debate of stem cell research has caused in our country? Or is it better to simply strike a compromise that is agreeable to both sides, and violates the rights of no human beings?