When the NY Times wrote this, I fired off a letter to the editor at the encouragement of my good friend Wesley J. Smith. No surprise that the NYT didn’t run my letter. So, I’m running it here. This is what I sent them:

The New York Times editorial (Of Animal Eggs and Human Embryos Sept. 24, 2007 Opinion) supporting the use of animal eggs and lamenting the dearth of human eggs for use in somatic cell nuclear transfer research misses an important point. Egg donation can be dangerous, with potential side effects that include sterility, infection, stroke—even death. We should not bemoan the failure of advertising campaigns to entice young girls to offer up their eggs or deride ethical guidelines or state regulations that seek to protect women. Payment is not the issue. Ease of research is not the issue. With regard to harvesting human eggs, our only concern should be the health and well being of women. Alas, too often, their welfare seems to be the last thing that research promoters care about.

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.