Scientists at Columbia University in New York have created cloned human embryos and then destroyed them for their embryonic stem cells. Failing at creation of real clones, they actually created genetically abnormal clones, knowing that the cells from the destroyed clones would be useless for therapies and even questionable for laboratory studies. Beyond the grave ethical failure of specifically creating young humans solely for destruction in science experiments, the scientists also used cash incentives to solicit women to risk their health and fertility by undergoing harvesting of dozens of eggs for the experiments.
Faced with their inefficient results, they then boldly claimed success and pleaded for many more women to come forward for “eggsploitation”. Besides the repugnance of creating human beings solely for destructive experiments, the obsession with embryonic stem cells and clones ignores the thousands of patients helped by ethical, successful adult stem cells.
Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.