Friday, November 07, 2003

Drawing a Blank: I'm used to politicians playing games when it comes to, well, politics. But I never understand why they play around with serious matters.

Stem cell research is continuing to get caught up in the game. Bush and other conservatives had indicated that they were laying off their hard-line stance against stem cell research, but it appears that they're allowing little of the actual research to take place. Researchers are complaining that they don't have access to the number of stem cells Bush had promised them.

The conservative position on stem cell research is that all life is precious and people shouldn't be playing God. This is a growth from the pro-life stance.

I'm strongly pro-choice, but I can grasp the argument against abortion. A pregnancy that is not terminated will eventually bear a newborn child. Stem cells, on the other hand, aren't going to grow into anything else. There's no logic of "preserving life" if there is no life there at all.

However, researching stem cells can eventually lead to discoveries that may help people who are alive and suffering from a number of diseases (here and here for example). Right now the potential benefits are mostly speculation. But we'll never know what we can get until the research is allowed to continue. Conservatives need to stop politicizing medicine.