Langevin, experts look to future of stem cells

3) ALTERNATIVES TO KILLING HUMAN FETUSES.
  One avenue of research that seems to have promise is cloning the stem cells of the person who needs the stem cells.
  Another avenue is continued research on fetuses of other mammals (such as cows, sheep, rabbits, etc.) in order to learn how to clone or donate fetal stem cells without significantly endangering the fetus.  And if we kill a few (or many) cows or other animal fetuses while experimenting, well, God made it clear to Noah in Genesis 9:3-7 that killing an animal is not the same as murdering a human.  Note, God and Noah went to considerable trouble to avoid destroying the animals in their kinds, and similarly I don’t think we should destroy so many animal fetuses that we endanger the survival of that species.  But in my view, destroying some animal fetuses is not the same as destroying human fetuses.  Once we’ve learned how to get fetal stem cells from other mammals without significantly endangering their fetuses, then perhaps we can do it with our own very young children (fetuses), with much less risk than I undergo by donating blood.  We might actually get what we seek faster if we restrict ourselves to experimenting on non-human mammals for a while, because many more non-human fetuses may be available and make possible a much wider variety of experiments. 

4) I THINK WE SHOULD SHOW A LITTLE FAITH THAT WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET BENEFITS FROM STEM CELLS WITHOUT KILLING OUR “BUDDING” CHILDREN.
  Some speak of faith-based initiatives.  If we chose to believe we can get away with not killing human fetuses, it might require a little more creativity, inspiration, and scientific brilliance, but who knows ... ONE OF THOSE HUMAN FETUSES WE DON’T KILL MIGHT BE THE ONE who eventually figures how to get the benefits from fetal stem cells without killing human fetuses.  And it might not take a long time.  It might only take a few years if some of our most brilliant scientists just begin looking for alternatives such as cloning cells and not fetuses, instead of immediately starting an increased slaughter of human fetuses.  The challenge of going to the moon without deliberately killing astronauts may have made it a little more expensive and a little slower in the beginning.  But my impression is the benefits of the research on how to go to the moon without killing astronauts have been worth much more than the slightly increased expense; perhaps some experts from NASA can come up with some more precise estimates on this subject.  I THINK PART OF THE REASON WHY THE USA “WON” THE “MOON RACE” WAS BECAUSE WE HAD MORE ENTHUSIASM FOR IT KNOWING THAT WE WERE NOT DELIBERATELY ENDANGERING HUMAN LIVES.  Part of the present and coming generation’s “moon race” may be figuring out how to get benefits from advances in biological science without deliberately killing humans (including the very young - the fetuses).

5) I am “PRO-CHOICE” OF ADOPTION.
  Persons should have the “right” to choose to give their child up for adoption, but not to choose to kill the child or human fetus.  I realize that giving up a child or human fetus for adoption involves considerable trouble, but I feel it is worth it (see my previous points).  I do not feel that this is anti-woman; after all, many aborted babies are female in the sense of having the chromosomes for being female.  I don’t think that a living human fetus (even a frozen one) from an in-vitro fertilization clinic is any less valuable than any other human fetus.  I think it is wrong to say such human fetuses may be deliberately killed for the sake of stem cell research or any other reason.

6) SOME SAY THAT YOU CANNOT LEGISLATE MORALITY.
  But, I think this is only a half truth.  I believe that the law provides guidance and has educational value.
  Therefore I believe one goal of laws ought to be to provide guidance regarding what is good.  The Bible says (Romans 3:20b, New American Standard Translation) “... for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.“  I realize that merely passing a law is not a total answer.  Merely passing a law does not provide a scientific breakthrough, nor what is needed to successfully give birth to a child.  Merely passing a law is not enough in itself to conceive, feed, raise, inspire, and educate even one child.  Parents, adoption, teachers, and social services both before and after birth all have important roles.

Love…. from a Master of Science in Biomathematics