Dégénération
Via the First Things blog comes what they call an “edgy protest song – a protest against cultural suicide, that is.” I enjoyed the melody, and the words (though I don’t really know French, it was fun to pick out words I recognized) cut to the heart of what is a serious problem for the [...]
An alternative to embryonic stem cells
In case you haven’t heard the news, there is a new approach to creating stem cells for research, one that does not involve human cloning or the destruction of human embryos. First Things’ Joseph Bottum had this to say about the development: If the news of major breakthroughs in cell research should turn out to [...]
On arbitrary definitions of human life
The definition of human life is not without controversy, and especially with the arguments surrounding the proposed Constitutional Amendment 2 in Missouri, it’s important to examine. Definitions of human life or personhood proposed in this debate can be categorized into particular deadlines (e.g. implantation, a certain fetal age, fetal viability outside the womb), collectively Time, [...]
Michael J. Fox and stem cells
Why is Michael J. Fox going on TV in Missouri supporting Missouri’s Constitutional Amendment 2 when he hasn’t even read it? Well, I don’t think that’s true. You know, I campaigned for Claire McCaskill. And so I have to qualify it by saying I’m not qualified to speak on the page-to-page content of the initiative. [...]
Missouri Amendment 2 is not the answer
Unfortunately, three facts have gone unacknowledged in the debate over Missouri’s proposed constitutional amendment 2 in the upcoming midterm elections. There is no established scientific reason why any therapy possible with embryonic stem cells would be impossible with adult stem cells. A stem cell is an undifferentiated cell – a cell that could become any [...]