Professors Debate Stem Cell Research

Physician and biomedical ethics expert William Hurlbut squared off against molecular biology and public affairs professor Lee Silver on the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cell research Monday in a panel moderated by former University president Harold Shapiro GS '64.

Hurlbut and Silver agreed that science struggles to set a non-arbitrary line during human development to separate a mere clump of cells from a human being entitled to human rights.

Hurlbut, a consulting professor at Stanford University, interpreted this arbitrariness as reason to define life as beginning with conception, which would enable the definition to encompass all the possibilities of an embryo's ontological standing. Silver, on the other hand, argued that the "fuzzy edges" of life defy any scientific evidence that life begins at any specific stage.

"There is an internal unity and unbroken continuity of development from fertilization to natural death," Hurlbut said. "The same evidence undercuts the claims that the early embryo is an inchoate clump of cells."

He added that recent evidence shows that the coordinated activity in embryonic stem cells suggests an "implicit whole that guides the parts" in the early stages of human development.

He said that this implicit whole "endows the embryo with its human character and its inviolable moral character."...


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Bills Would Both Promote, Forbid Stem Cell Research - Texas House Panel Considers Clashing Views

AUSTIN - A House committee on Monday heard testimony on six pieces of legislation relating to stem cell research, with much of the discussion focusing on whether the state should allow a type of research that clones embryos for therapeutic reasons.

Two bills focus on the embryonic stem cell research itself, while three bills and one joint resolution examine funding and oversight for the work. The therapeutic research is hailed in some quarters as the future of medicine but decried in others as destroying human life.

Many think therapeutic cloning holds the greatest promise for diseases that defy treatment. Using cells cloned from a patient's own tissue could lead to cures for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart disease, various cancers and spinal cord injury.

Ethical concerns raised

A bill filed by Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, would prohibit the therapeutic work. Such research raises ethical concerns because it could lead to cloning babies, King said.

"Extracting the stem cell destroys the embryo, and that's where our ethical dilemma begins," King told the House State Affairs Committee. "There is no difference in the process used to produce cloned human embryos."

King said he believes life begins at conception and therefore, this process destroys human life. He described to the committee the life process — from embryo to fetus to infant to child to adolescent to adult — to explain his position.

"At any time in that process had your life been terminated, it would have destroyed your life," he said. "So I don't see how you can say this isn't destroying human life."

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An Alliance Between Evangelicals and, Catholics?

Though the Pope departed this earthly life April 2, his legacy which including the special esteem in which many American evangelical Protestants held him and many of his teachings -- lives on.

Perhaps the most prominent evidence of Pope John Paul II's special place in the hearts of evangelicals came in comments by the United States currently most prominent evangelical, President Bush. "The Catholic Church has lost its shepherd, the world has lost a champion of human freedom, and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home," Bush said, in a statement he issued shortly after Vatican officials announced the pontiff's death.

Bush later attended a special memorial Mass at Washington's St. Matthew's Cathedral, located just a few blocks from the White House.

Bush has frequently made reference to the "culture of life," a phrase coined by John Paul II in his many writings on life-ethics issues. Bush has used them mainly in the context of discussing abortion, stem-cell research and euthanasia. He cited the term repeatedly in discussing the recent dispute over the fate of Terri Schiavo.

Indeed, many prominent evangelicals cited the pope's commitment to a pro-life ethic in reflections on his legacy.

"His passion brought leadership on many cultural issues, including traditional marriage and the protection of unborn children. He also took a strong stance against embryonic stem cell research and human cloning," said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, in a statement on John Paul II's death. "The pope must be recognized for his prolific writings, his gift for language, and his outspoken affirmation of life that we enjoy from our Creator, from conception to natural death."

Such effusive praise for a pope from conservative Protestants stands in stark contrast to the views of Catholicism in general -- and the papacy in particular -- many evangelical leaders expressed prior to John Paul II's election in 1978. Indeed, many conservative and fundamentalist Protestants led opposition to the election of President John F. Kennedy in 1960 because of Kennedy's Catholicism.

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Catholic Churches to Distribute Anti-Stem Cell Cards

ST. LOUIS - Roman Catholic parishioners attending Mass this weekend will be asked to sign cards asking the state Legislature to ban a certain form of stem-cell research.

The church plans to distribute nearly 700,000 cards, then will deliver them to legislators in the next few weeks.

The campaign is part of an effort by social and religious conservative groups, who are frustrated with lawmakers and Gov. Matt Blunt over the lack of progress on the proposed ban of a procedure known as therapeutic cloning, which is used to create stem cells.

While a Senate committee approved the bill to ban the procedure in mid-February, it still hasn't been debated by the Senate. Similar legislation in the House has not even been assigned to a committee. And Blunt has said he's likely to veto the ban. A spokesman said Thursday that the governor's position was unchanged.

Larry Weber, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, which is coordinating the card campaign, tied the lack of legislative action to Blunt's opposition.

The issue has also pitted social conservatives against some of the party's most prominent fiscal conservatives and donors.


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