To the Editor:
Re “Wrong Direction on Stem Cells” (editorial, Aug. 25):
By what distorted sort of moral values are thousands of frozen embryos,
no longer needed by couples for in vitro fertilization and about to be
thrown into the medical waste trash bin, prohibited from being used for
vital research to cure diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease and
Parkinson’s, to find remedies for debilitating injuries and to promote
vital organ regeneration?
Arthur L. Yeager
Edison, N.J., Aug. 25, 2010
To the Editor:
Re “Judge Calls Halt to Stem Cell Aid Backed by Obama” (front page, Aug. 24):
The Court of Appeals last year awarded “standing” to two scientists who
were among the original plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the Obama
administration’s stem cell policy, on the grounds that since these
scientists work exclusively with adult stem cells, they “would face
increased competition for federal financing under the new policy,” and
therefore were “materially affected” by the rule change.
This decision reinstated the spurious lawsuit, leading to the ruling announced on Monday.
Based on this logic, any scientist could sue the government and the
National Institutes of Health to stop federal funding for a new
technology that would compete with his or her own research.
Competition for funding of the best research programs has been the
proven engine of American success in science, as free-market competition
has been in business.
The cynicism of the religious right’s latest attack on science is absolutely breathtaking.
David J. Anderson
Pasadena, Calif., Aug. 24, 2010
The writer, a professor of biology at California Institute of
Technology, was a founding board member of the International Society for
Stem Cell Research.
To the Editor:
I commend Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth for issuing a ruling on Monday
preventing the Obama administration from carrying out its embryonic stem
cell research. The American people should not be forced to pay for
experiments that destroy human life.
Human life begins at conception with the formation of a genetically complete, self-directing human entity, the embryo.
Human beings are not raw materials that can be exploited or commodities
that can be bought and sold. We must help those who are suffering, but
we may not use a good end to justify an evil means. The respect for
every human life is an essential condition of our society.
Any method of genetic manipulation that involves the alteration or
destruction of human embryos is nothing more than Frankenstein science.
Paul Kokoski
Hamilton, Ontario, Aug. 24, 2010
Note from KBJ: The first letter writer doesn't even see a moral conflict. How's that for "distorted moral values"?
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 