Stem Cell Research
While science has helped create life-saving inventions, science should never be treated like the most important thing—especially when research means ignoring what’s right and wrong.
One place where this really matters is embryonic stem cell research. Many people don’t realize that this practice actually destroys human lives in their earliest, most vulnerable stage—embryos.
When Pro-Lifers argue that Life begins at conception, this includes Life created outside the womb. Embryos created through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and used in scientific research are no less human and no less valuable than any other person. Their worth comes from their intrinsic human nature, not from their ability—or inability—to survive outside a lab.
That’s why we must oppose all life-destroying practices or research.
What Are Stem Cells?
Think of stem cells as “blank” cells. They can adapt and turn into different types of cells in the body. Stem cells can replace or heal organs, repair tissues, and treat diseases because they respond to any signal the body gives, becoming the exact type of cell a person needs to fix what’s wrong.
There are five main types of stem cells:
- Embryonic stem cells: Always unethical
These come from embryos (preborn babies, a few days after fertilization), typically created through in vitro fertilization (IVF). - In vitro fertilization happens when scientists put a sperm and egg together outside of the womb, in a lab.
To get these embryonic stem cells, scientists must destroy (aka kill) the tiny baby. Pro-Life advocates affirm that Life begins at fertilization, so destroying embryos for medicine is just as wrong as abortion.
- Neural stem cells: Always unethical
These are taken from the brains of unborn babies around 3-4 months’ gestation (fetuses). Getting these cells requires the fetus to be killed (via abortion) and then dissected to collect the living neural tissue while it’s still fresh. We oppose any medical advancement that requires the intentional killing of innocent human beings.
- Olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC): Sometimes ethical, depending on the source
These come from a part of the brain that handles smell (the olfactory bulb). They can be taken from adults (ethical) or from unborn babies (unethical). - Adults – These cells can be harvested from the olfactory region (usually through a small surgery involving the nose or brain). This method does not harm the person and is morally acceptable.
- Fetuses – These cells are taken from the olfactory bulb of aborted babies (usually 8–20 weeks gestation). In these cases, the child is already being aborted or is intentionally aborted for the purpose of harvesting tissue. This is always unethical.
- Adult (Mesenchymal) stem cells: Always ethical
These either come from your own body or from another person and are taken from places like bone marrow, fat tissue, or umbilical cord blood. This is a natural option to help fix or replace certain tissues.
- Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs): Always ethical
These are regular adult cells that scientists reprogram to act like stem cells. (See next section.)
Better Options
Scientists have found other ways to get powerful stem cells without using embryos. They reprogram a person’s regular cells (like skin and blood cells), which become induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs act like embryonic stem cells but are made from ordinary cells, so no one has to die to get them—and they’re more effective than embryonic stem cells.
Are Embryonic Stem Cells Effective?
0
1.5 MILLION
Most people think that embryonic stem cells are needed to treat diseases, even if it means preborn babies will die. But embryonic stem cell research has not achieved the good that scientists hoped for. There are zero successful treatments using embryonic stem cells—after decades of trying. It turns out, an embryo’s cells multiply so rapidly that they create tumors and cause bad immune system reactions when you try to adapt them to the patient’s body.
Adult stem cells are actually more effective and they don’t come with moral problems like embryonic stem cells do. More than 1.5 million people have already been treated with adult stem cells for illnesses such as:
- Autoimmune diseases
- Cerebral Palsy
- Cancers
- Heart damage
- Stroke
- Sickle cell anemia
- Spinal cord injuries
- Multiple sclerosis
- Juvenile diabetes
- And more.
One reason adult stem cells are more successful is that they’re less likely to be rejected by the patient’s body. They can come from your own tissues, which means the cells are a perfect match and your immune system won’t try to attack them.
Embryonic stem cells, on the other hand, come from someone else (an unborn baby) with his/her own genetic code. The patient’s body sees embryonic stem cells as strangers and attacks them, just like how your body would fight off germs.
What if the Embryos Will Just be Frozen Forever?
Some embryos are created specifically for research, but some are left over from IVF. Many people think it would be better to use these embryos for science and medicine, since the children will never be born anyways. But society should never take away someone’s rights so they can be “useful” to everyone else.
That’s why the Nuremberg Code was written after World War II, in response to horrific experiments done on Holocaust victims. These rules were made to protect people in medical and scientific research. Embryonic stem cell usage breaks these guidelines.
The most important rule in the Nuremberg Code is that people must give clear and informed consent before being part of any experiment. That means they must fully understand what the research involves and agree to it freely. Other key declarations, rules, and regulations for medical research were built on Nuremberg’s foundation.
Widely accepted principles for ethical practice of medical and scientific research say that human experiments must:
- Help society and only be done if the results can’t be achieved any other way;
- Be based on good science and knowledge already known;
- Avoid all unnecessary pain, both physical and mental;
- Not happen if there’s a chance of death or serious harm;
- Be stopped right away if the experiment is causing harm; and
- Offers the prospect of directly benefiting the human subject.
Clearly, destroying an embryo in research breaks all of these policies.
Plus, using abandoned embryos for research creates a financial incentive for the U.S. fertility industry, worth an estimated $8 billion. The stem cell therapy market could reach $11 billion by 2029. Profit and “progress” are driving a disregard for Life.
What’s the Pro-Life Response?
Preborn humans are the forgotten victims of our modern age. They are hidden away in freezers or destroyed in labs under the guise of progress. The Pro-Life position must remain firm: Human beings are valuable at every stage of Life, and our worth is not determined by how useful we are.
Science can and should serve humanity, and our Pro-Life convictions should drive us to more and better medical treatments for people. However, scientific and medical research must never violate the dignity of human Life.
With effective, ethical alternatives available, there is no reason for continuing embryo-destructive research.
Pro-Lifers must speak out—not only against abortion but against all practices that undermine the value of Life. That includes all embryo-destroying research.
