Lose the Hype, Look at the Facts

By Rebecca Richmond, Executive Director

A great column by Susan Martinuk appears in the Calgary Herald today on the stem cell debate and the media hype that is clouding the issue.

As she astutely points out,

The debate has indeed resurfaced but, based on reaction by the American media, any hope for real discussion is lost. The debate is still being fought on the basis of erroneous perceptions and, without the facts, there can be no intelligent resolution.

And the facts seem to be that a) embryo stem cells haven’t seen much in the way of successes; b) embryos have to die in order to get the stem cells; and c) these are human embryos we are talking about.  How do they differ from any of us?  (Check out uOttawa Students For Life’s analysis of the differences between the unborn and the born based on Size, Level of Development, Environment and Degree of Dependence).

On the other hand, adult stem cells a) have been highly successful in treatments; and b) are ethical.  No one has to die to harvest adult stem cells.

I’m all for scientific progress, but not when that “progress” costs innocent lives.