Our announcement of Nov. 20 celebrating the death of the human cloning agenda, had no more left the gate when all the cloning cheerleaders starting shouting, “hold on thar a minute”. It’s too early to tell. We mustn’t get too excited. We still need to pursue all avenues of research. We shouldn’t limit or restrict science. If Bush hadn’t gotten in the way.

As I like to say, blah, blah, blah.

So we are back in the fight again. Curious, James Thomson of U. of Wisconsin, the scientist who discovered embryonic stem cells and who also was one of the scientists who discovered the latest breakthrough, just said this, “If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough.”

Today’s Washington Post has a good piece out by Charles Krauthammer titled, Stem Cell Vindication” where he makes these points:

  • Every scientist who cares “not a whit” about the morality of the embryo will adopt this new scientific method because it is simple and powerful.
  • President Bush is vindicated because as Thomson said, he was uncomfortable with human embryonic stem cell research.
  • While Krauthammer himself would have drawn a different ethical line then Bush, history will look back on the famous Bush speech of 2001 quite favorably as a balanced and measured position against his most unpopular stance.
  • The holy grail has been achieved.

And this is the assessment of a Canadian born Jew, of French parents, who happens to also be a medical doctor and quadraplegic from a spinal cord injury while in medical school!

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.