From the San Luis Obispo Tribune | 08/20/2005 come "Letters on stem cell research"

Fools and Reasonables hash it out here. Notice the Ka-ching! factor weighing in as a Reasonable argument for ESCR:

I wonder how many of the original 78 lines of stem cells that existed four years ago are now viable? Four of the six created in the United States were already known to be unstable at that time. Six of the 78 were in Seoul, Korea, and many others were in private companies outside the United States, in Israel, India, Sweden, Australia. Private companies are not known for "sharing" their discoveries, unless it will greatly benefit them financially. We need many, many more lines.
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Stem cell embryos that are not used to propagate life should be available for research. America is falling behind other countries in this important research. But America has the capability of pursuing and perfecting stem cell use for the benefit of all mankind.

Unborn persons have become the new slaves of the 21st century. The Reasonable have decided that, since they aren't people, these unborn children are merely a means to some other end. Whether that's treatments for the rest of humanity or marks in the asset ledger.

Fools still persist in seeing these unborn children as (gasp!) people. As such, we find it a bit problematic to put people to death simply to keep up with the pharmaceutical industry jones. Cures for diseases are well and good; others shouldn't have to die to provide them. These Fools get it:

Where's the compassion?

I do not believe that Frist showed "compassion and courage" in breaking with Bush on embryonic stem cell research. The fact is, there has not yet been any benefit found from using embryonic stem cells, while there have been successful treatments with adult and umbilical cord stem cells. It is wrong to destroy one life in trying to save another -- we should not even go there by doing research with embryos, whether slated for destruction or not.
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Did Frist show courage and compassion? That would depend on what you consider human embryos to be. Are they potential life, or are they unique human beings with rights?

Human embryos are dependent on a parent, but so is a 1-week-old infant. Scientifically, they have unique DNA, and given time and nutrients, they will become adults. The snowflake babies are evidence of this.
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Advocates of stem cell research emphasize the potential benefit to human health and longevity. They stress the need to use human embryo stem cells because they initially seem the easiest and most promising. Some advocates will acknowledge that this does raise "ethical concerns." But those concerns are usually brushed aside by emphasizing instead the potential for solutions to horrible afflictions like Alzheimer's and spinal cord damage. If the ethical questions are answered, and the outcome is "unethical," the advocates presumably would quickly and ethically cease, though they make no advance commitment to this.

Distinguishing categories of human embryos is an effort by some advocates, and some bioethicists, to work around the ethical issues by naming a "safe" class of embryos: embryos "that would otherwise be discarded." This construct ignores the still-open question of the ethics of artificially creating human embryos in the first place.

So, we are piling unresolved ethical questions one upon another without resolving any of them first.

Do we truly want to tell our children that some were put to death that others may live? Is this the legacy that we want to leave behind? if it is, it will only be a matter of time before others begin to narrow the parameters of personhood. Soon, the most vulnerable among us will find they no longer enjoy the basic safeguards for their human rights--because they are no longer considered persons. The Netherlands work on Euthanasia offers an unspeakable preview of this insidious trend.

To some, such measures may sound perfectly Reasonable. That's exactly why they're wrong. Keep laughing, Fools. And start passing out brooms!