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Pro-Life Update Medical breakthroughs usually stir excitement and hope; yet the debate over embryonic stem cell research has taught us that not all breakthroughs are necessarily welcome. All innocent human life must be respected, which is why embryo-destructive research cannot be accepted. New discoveries in Ukraine show an even more grotesque form of medical wrongdoing, as newborn babies are stolen from their mothers so that scientists can procure body parts, organs, stem cells, or bone marrow. This is a painful reminder of where science can take us if it is separated from our moral understanding.
Please read this issue of the Pro-Life Update carefully to understand some of the challenges we now face and how you—an educated Pro-Lifer—can advance the Culture of Life. Please share this information with your family, friends, and church congregations. Make copies. Spread the news.
Amniotic Stem Cells Provide Exciting Alternative Amniotic stem cells are proving to be yet another exciting alternative to embryonic stem cells. Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University have discovered that they can harvest stem cells—shed from the amniotic fluid of an unborn baby. This procurement causes absolutely no harm to the mother or the baby. The scientists were then able to turn those stem cells into several different types of tissue, including brain, liver, and bone.
Embryonic stem cell research proponents tout the ability of embryonic stem cells to change into many different types of tissue. However, scientists have been unable to keep embryonic stem cells stable, and, in some cases, they have grown into tumors over time. This new research with the amniotic stem cells proves them to be very versatile (just like the embryonic stem cells) but also remain stable. Additionally, if the stem cells are used on the same baby from whom they came, then there is no risk of cell-rejection.
Dr. Anthony Atala, head of Wake Forest’s regenerative medicine institute and senior researcher on the project, expressed his excitement, “Our hope is that these cells will provide a valuable resource for tissue repair and for engineered organs as well.”
Obtaining these amniotic stem cells is morally permissible, unlike the embryonic stem cell research, which kills a human embryo. Dr. David Prentice, an internationally recognized expert on stem cell research and cloning, shared his response to this research with National Right to Life:
This is exciting news from the scientists at Wake Forest. These adult-type stem cells from amniotic fluid and placenta (afterbirth) have all the positives scientists claim to want from stem cells—flexibility to make different tissues, easy and long-term growth in the lab, no tumors—without the negatives associated with embryonic stem cells. There is no rational reason to pursue embryo destruction for stem cells; those who still want embryo research are interested in politics, not patients.
British Scientists Grow Human Liver British scientists at Newcastle University have grown the first artificial human liver from stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. The technique created a “mini-liver,” which researchers hope can be used to test new drugs. This would eliminate disasters such as the Northwick Park drug trials that resulted in six healthy young volunteers fighting for their lives. Animal experiments would also be reduced through the use of such mini-livers.
Scientists at Newcastle University worked in collaboration with scientists from the US to separate stem cells from the blood removed from umbilical cords just moments after birth. The cells were then placed in a bioreactor developed by NASA to mimic the effects of weightlessness. The cells are able to grow much more rapidly than normal without the force of gravity. Hormones and chemicals that “convince” the stem cells to change into liver tissue were then added. The pieces of liver created are less than an inch in diameter.
Scientists hope that within five years they will be able to use pieces of artificial tissue to repair livers damaged by injury, disease, alcohol abuse, and drug overdose. Within 15 years, they hope to perform transplants with entire livers that have been grown in a lab.
Ukraine Involved in Grisly Baby Body Part and Stem Cell Trade (Note: The following article is quite graphic.) The Ukraine, according to the Daily Mail, is now an international supplier of embryonic stem cells used in medical research, meaning the Ukraine sells embryos for profit. Additionally, a shocking trade in both body parts and stem cells taken from aborted babies and babies stolen at birth has been surfacing over the past several years. A 2004 investigation was halted for lack of evidence, but since more individuals have been stepping forward with their stories, the Council of Europe plans to restart the investigation.
Irina Bogomolova of the Kiev chief prosecutor’s office said she was fired for insisting on an investigation. Bogomolova described that the baby body parts are procured when doctors tell women that their babies were born stillborn or died shortly after birth. They then butcher the babies for their body parts. “Pregnant women, especially from rural areas, are very vulnerable targets as they will obviously believe whatever the doctors tell them,” she explained to the Telegraph. “It’s easy to take their babies from them and tell them they died or were born dead.”
One mother who experienced the taking of her new child reported the incident to the Ukrainian group Federation of Families with Many Children, which then persuaded authorities to conduct postmortem examinations of 30 babies who had died at this particular hospital. The video that they made of the exams showed that the babies (many of whom were full term) had organs and brains missing.
Matthew Hill of the Daily Mail reported: “Another body shown in the video is so badly dismembered it has to be put together piece by piece, like a jigsaw. Dismemberment is not standard autopsy practice and could, according to experts, indicate stem cells were harvested from bone marrow.”
The Council of Europe’s new investigation will start this February. (Source: National Right to Life)
The Pro-Life movement still has much work to ensure that all people throughout the world are welcomed into Life and respected. If you would like any additional information on the topics discussed above, please send me a note. If you ever have questions about any Pro-Life issues, please be sure to let me know. Yours for Life, Dr. Joseph M. Graham President |
