Do you own a human embryo?

Friday, February 20. 2009

You can if you live in New Mexico, and probably many other states where a human embryo is considered property. (I know embryos are considered property in my state.) The New Mexico State Senate just passed the SB77 the Stem Cell Biomedical Research Bill. Now, it is on to the House for a vote.

This bill fascinates me. It has some very good things in it, but also some very bad things. Let us start with the bad. This bill would allow scientists in New Mexico to destroy embryos left over from IVF treatments, but only with the consent of the "owner." From the bill:

"embryo" means an organism of the species Homo sapiens formed by fertilization that is up to eight weeks of age post-fertilization...
Research involving the derivation of human embryonic stem cells, as permitted by Subsection A of this section, shall only be conducted with the informed consent of the original owner of the embryo...

So, they admit that an embryo is a human organism, but says it has an "owner." I wonder who owns an embryo? Is it the woman who donated the egg? Or the man who donated the sperm? Or is it the person or persons who ordered up the embryo?

There are some good things about this bill. First, it says it bans human reproductive cloning, and as far as I can see it actually bans human cloning:

"human reproductive cloning" means the asexual creation of an embryo

So, it bans the creation of an cloned embryo not just the implantation of cloned embryos. Also, it prohibits the creation of embryo just for research:

A person shall not knowingly create an embryo with the sole intent of donating the embryo for research.

And it provides a conscience clause for those researchers who are morally opposed to research on human embryos:

An employee shall not be required to conduct scientific research, experimentation or study that involves the creation or use of pre-implantation embryos in relation to human embryonic stem cell research to the extent that such research conflicts with the sincerely held religious practices or beliefs of the employee.

All of these provisions are good, but I just cannot get over the idea that someone can "own" a human being, even if it is only the size of the period at the end of this sentence. I suppose when you create life outside the womb, "ownership" becomes a problem that necessarily follows. Maybe, just maybe, that is what the Catholic Church saw coming when it said IVF was immoral.

Posted by Rebecca Taylor in Human embryo at 08:42 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

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Very quietly, buried in a 3 page article on platelet rich plasma and horse and athlete injury treatments was this epic and monumental bombshell! Do NOT underestimate how significant this is. Up till this point, the US medical establishment thought that adult stem cells were unproven, of limited potential and a waste of time and money. Now the big daddy of them all, the NIH, is jumping in with both feet! This is not a secondary back up treatment to improve red blood cell levels after chemo. This is the NIH advocating THE USE OF ADULT STEM CELLS TO TREAT DEBILITATING MEDICAL CONDITIONS!

You heard it here first! -DG

“The National Institutes for Health seem to think regenerating human muscle and bone using a person’s own adult stem cells is nearly ready for prime time.

Last week, the NIH announced to its staff that it’s CREATING A BONE MARROW-(ADULT) STEM CELL TRANSPLANT CENTER within the NIH Clinical Research Center.”

This is the first step of a long road but maybe one day soon, the multitude of Americans suffering with diseases that can be improved with adult stem cells will not have to travel overseas for treatments. We can only hope. -DG

http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/nih-says-adult-stem-cells-are-ready-for-the-prime-time-yah-baby/

#1 David Granovsky on 2009-02-26 21:26 (Reply)

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