Stem cells from abortion
babies.

The debate of fetal stem cell transfusions.

The mention of stem cell research is something that instills hot debate from a great many people; the biggest reason that this debate even exists is the use of stem cells from abortion babies. Embryos, umbilical cords, placentas and many other sources of blood from unborn babies contain a high concentration of strong stem cells. These stem cells are proving to be very useful in the fight against degenerative diseases. Stem cells have the capability to grow into many different types of cells, tissue and even major organs and this means that with diseases that destroy blood cells or other cells the stem cells taken from any source really can prove invaluable. In Adult Stem Cells J. C. Willke MD argues the points of pro life and that using stem cells from abortion babies is considered morally repugnant by many.

Other sources of stem cells.

It's certainly true that stem cells can be taken from other sources. Currently bone marrow transplants are used to extract stem cells from full-grown adults. These stem cells have already begun to form into specialist blood cells and this means that they can only effectively be used to help cure blood related diseases such as leukemia and anemia. The blood that is taken from embryos, aborted babies and blood cords contains much more flexible stem cells that can develop into virtually anything that the body needs.

The debate against fetal stem cells.

Removing the stem cell from an embryo causes the embryo to die. Many religions consider this to be morally and ethically wrong while scientists argue that the baby has already been aborted and so there is no problem. Another method of collecting embryonic stem cells is by cloning embryos in a laboratory and using these embryos instead. Scientifically this offers a few advantages to other methods. It is possible to remove the DNA that relates to the parents of the embryo and replace it with DMA from the patient. This means that the stem cell removed from the cloned embryo will match the patient perfectly.

The debate for fetal stem cells.

This method is still considered to be immorally wrong. The fact is that millions of babies are aborted every single year whether or not stem cell research is allowed to be carried out on these aborted fetuses. Scientists and others believe that they should be used for scientific research. So far, tests have been carried out on animals as to the viability of the blood taken from aborted fetuses and, certainly in mice, the introduction of stem cells taken from an aborted human fetus has helped paralyzed mice to walk again. Scientists are confident that the same effect can be achieved on humans but they feel that only the stem cells removed the human fetus can recreate these same results.

Previous experiments using fetal stem cells.

Protestors have been against the idea of using aborted babies for medical science or research for many years. They believe that not only is it a desecration of a human life but they also think it provides a profit motive to abort unborn children. The use of stem cells from abortion babies have gone medically wrong in the past giving protestors extra reason to oppose their use. In 2001 patients with Parkinson's were injected with stem cells and they actually became much worse.

The possibilities of using stem cells from abortion babies.

Research and techniques have moved on significantly since those days, however, and some doctors are requesting that children with Batten disease be injected with fetal blood. This is a request that has been met by mixed, but equally strong, emotions from everyone concerned. A number of doctors who were involved with the 2001 tests believe that the use of fetal stem cells should be reserved for research only and not used on live patients, although most scientists are positive that the research currently being done will eventually lead to a viable use for stem cells from abortion babies.

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