Monday, September 29, 2008

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

I have saved a picture from an adoption magazine that is very striking. It has a cute picture of three little, wide-eyed babies, one boy, two girls. It is such a cute picture. When I opened the magazine to read about these babies, I was struck by the fact that they had been frozen embryos that were adopted.

All it takes is one look at this picture to see the problem with embryonic research. If these babies had been given up to research, they would not be alive today. Three beautiful little human beings would never have been given a chance to live full lives.

What to do with frozen embryos is a particular dilemma today. John Paul II tried to warn us that in vitro fertilization and such would cause great problems. Read his wonderful document--The Gospel of Life.

Of course, now that in vitro is commonly practiced and people are creating embryos they don't want, there is a moral problem--what to do with them. It's so sad. People are looking for a moral answer. How do I dispose of my extra babies? they ask.

There really isn't a good answer to this. When we try to scientifically create babies outside the natural, conjugal act of a married couple, it creates the mentality that children are a right, rather than a gift from God.

Just because we can do something lawfully or scientifically, doesn't mean we should.

One thing for sure is that it is never okay to do evil, and to destroy human embryos because they are viewed as "extras" is not an acceptable solution.

We must continue to pray for infertile couples and help educate them on the immorality of in vitro fertilization and the ensuing problem of creating "extra" embryos. They need to think about these things before placing themselves in a position that is a moral landmine.

There is NO SUCH THING as an "extra" embryo.