The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 2 of 13)

That has changed now. Now it is all right to terminate the life of an unborn child without do process, as long as it is sanctioned by the child's mother. Now we are discussing, not whether to terminate the potential life of frozen embryonic organisms, but under what circumstances it can ethically be done.

The answer is simple: it cannot be done ethically. The termination of life is worthy of serious consideration, the more so when it involves human life. And make no mistake, if a man can be put to death for causing the death of an in vivo embryo in its first trimester by injuring the mother, then the termination of embryonic life for scientific purposes can not be done ethically. Right, Dr. Mengele?

If the scientific value of embryonic stem cells is as great as some would have us believe, then some other way must be found to harvest them, possibly from placental blood. Next, the whole concept of fetal abortion, both in vitro and in vivo must be addressed. The victims of this practice are not the same as those on death row. The unborn have committed no crime other than being conceived and pose no evident danger to society by their continued existence.

p>This ethical debate is a no-brainer. The fact that such eminent scientific minds are even engaged in it does not bode well for the future of science in this country. br> -- Michael Tobias br> Fort Lauderdale, Florida /p>

Neumayr's excellent article hits squarely at every point on every level. I was one of the ignorant many who never knew that IVF meant that embryos sat in limbo indefinitely, or were ultimately destroyed, all for the benefit of desperate infertile couples. If it is so terrible not to be able to create your own children, why is it not equally terrible to play god with each genetically different potential human individual sitting on the shelf? Why mourn over the inability to procreate when the excess of the science you advocate is never mourned?

p>I do not understand the mentality that predominates today. I do not understand what is so awful about Western Culture that it must be attacked and annihilated from every direction. The scientists on this government panel are clearly in line with the ideals of eugenicism, married with socialism, in bed with totalitarianism, governed by the absurd notion that 2000 years of Christian tradition be damned. br> -- Brendan R. Merrick br> Budd Lake, New Jersey /p> p>

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