Should the government allow federal funding for stem cells research?
Is it really worth it to kill a human life for research that carries the possibility of failure? Or is it possible to adopt other methods for the same cause? Stem cell research has become a major issue in our society and a major breakthrough in modern science. Stem cell research laws and policies of the United States have had a complicated legal and political history. Scientists believe that with funding for stem cell research, they could achieve what many people dream about, which is finding cures and treatments for many chronic illnesses. This issue has raised controversy among individuals because the current President of the United States, Barack Obama, lifted restrictions for federal funding on embryonic stem cell research in 2009. According to a CNN news report in 2010, the U.S district Judge Royce C. Lamberth overturned Obama’s executive order. He said in his ruling that all embryonic stem cell research involves destroying embryos, which violates the Dickey-Wicker Amendment included in federal spending bills.
Moreover, the creation, treatment, and destruction of human embryos for research purposes might be viewed as an awfully inhumane act by some individuals. Although, not all stem cell research projects require the use of human embryos. There are also adult stem cells, amniotic fluid that contains stem cells, umbilical cord stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells that do not require the use of human embryos. The government should pass a law in which it provides federal funding for stem cell research, including embryonic stem cell research, because through these kinds of investigations, the treatment for many untreatable diseases can be discovered and many lives can be saved.
Furthermore, the cell is the fundamental unit of life and the human body is composed of millions and trillions of cells, which have specific functions. Before each cell is able to specialize, it is called a stem cell. Stem cells are found in all multicellular organisms and they have very unique properties such as, the ability to divide through mitosis and organize into diverse specialized cell types, and the ability to turnover to produce new stem cells and become other types of cells. According to the Corriell Institute for Medical Research, stem cells remain as blank impressionable cells until particular factors, or nutrients, induce them to perform a specific function (par. 2). For many scientists and researchers, stem cells are believed to be the key to possible cures and treatments of many diseases. Since stem cells are able to multiply and specialize in different forms, and each cell has a function in every part of the body, such as the brain, muscles, skin, blood, bones, etc., it seems possible that the use of stem cells could be an important tool for scientists in finding solutions and answers for conditions, and treatments for illnesses that are hard to fight or even considered untreatable.
In addition, stem cell research has been in debate for many years. Everything started in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade case, which made possible the legalization of abortion in the United States. About five years later, a new advancement appeared, the first human in vitro fertilization, which turned out to be a success. After these developments, the federal government had to create regulations excluding the use of their funding for any research involving human embryos. Later in 1995, the National Institute of Health Human Embryo Research Panel asked the administration of President Bill Clinton to permit federal funding for research on embryos that were left over from in vitro fertilization treatments, and would be specifically used for experimentation, but he rejected it for ethical and moral reasons.
In the same year, the congress passed the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from using funds for the creation of human