Here is an excellent article on the Acton Institute website.
Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse makes the excellent point that much of the lobbying for embryo stem cell research is about money for scientists, and not about cures, or patients.
Commentary: Follow the Money: Stem Cells and Subsidies
Last week the scientific world was abuzz with the news that adult stem cells could be used to regenerate tissues and cure diseases. This week, the political world is abuzz with the news of President Bush’s veto of Congressional legislation and his own alternative Executive Order for Expanding Approved Stem Cell Lines in Ethically Responsible Ways. While the Usual Suspects are busy denouncing Bush for being anti-science, the media debate completely obscures the economic interests at stake. Big bio-tech companies stand to make money from government subsidy of embryonic stem cell research. By contrast, the use of stem cells from non-destructive sources have already produced cures, and will ultimately be cheaper to the health care consumer.
Scientists have successfully used stem cells found in the blood of umbilical cords to treat leukemia and other malignancies, thalassemia and other blood disorders, immuno-deficiencies and other conditions. In fact, stem cells from adults and umbilical cord blood have been used in the treatment of over 70 different diseases and medical conditions. Embryonic stem cell research is still in its, well, embryonic stages.
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And don’t forget, the political argument over stem cell research is an argument over government subsidy. The proponents of embryonic stem cell research insist they need taxpayer funding to bring these “miracle cures” to the market. A more cynical view is that a group of scientists and their business allies want government subsidies to defeat the competition from more effective, less expensive, umbilical cord blood.
By contrast, several privately funded umbilical cord blood banks are already up and running: the National Cord Blood Program and Cord Blood Registry. The Catholic hospitals of New Jersey have announced that they are willing to lead the effort to coordinate the donation, registration, and distribution process, with or without taxpayer funding.
That is why the use of umbilical cord blood is doubly more humane than the use of human embryos for obtaining stem cells. No embryos have to be created or destroyed in order to obtain the stem cells. And, since umbilical cord blood is more plentiful at lower cost, the ultimate cost to the patients will be lower.
This is the ultimate irony of the conflict over stem cells. Umbilical cord blood produces cells that are more practical than those obtained from embryo destruction. If we would allow the embryos to be born, we would have a ready supply of something more therapeutic and less costly. And, we get a free prize: a cute baby, as a by-product. A win-win situation all around.
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