Scientists in Oregon Kill Human Embryos For “Research”

Ethics, Life, Sanctity of Life, , , , ,

This week the MIT Technology Review reported that scientists in Oregon have become the first in the U.S. to edit the DNA of human embryos.

The MIT Technology Review writes,

The effort, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University, involved changing the DNA of a large number of one-cell embryos with the gene-editing technique CRISPR, according to people familiar with the scientific results.

Until now, American scientists have watched with a combination of awe, envy, and some alarm as scientists elsewhere were first to explore the controversial practice. To date, three previous reports of editing human embryos were all published by scientists in China.

To call this research “controversial” is an understatement. It is unconscionable for two reasons.

First, in order to carry out their research, scientists created human embryos. These human embryos were living human beings–albeit very small, helpless human beings. Researchers in Oregon created these human beings; experimented on them; and then apparently killed them.

Ethically speaking, this is no different from embryonic stem cell research in which human embryos are created and then killed in order to harvest their stem cells for scientific use.

The second reason this research is unconscionable is that it could pave the way for “designer babies” in which embryos are edited to produce certain characteristics. Scientists who support this research say it could one day allow doctors to correct genetic abnormalities in unborn children, but it could also allow parents and doctors to engineer children with certain traits or enhancements.

It’s worth noting this is not the first time these researchers in Oregon have engaged in this type of activity. In 2013 they published research claiming to have cloned and killed human embryos in order to obtain their stem cells.

As we have said many times, human beings are not research material. All scientific research must respect the sanctity of human life. And we should not do anything that might encourage or allow doctors to produce customized “designer children.”

You can read more about the research in question here.

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Trump Administration Cuts Ineffective Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program Funding

Current Events, ,

The Trump Administration recently ended funding for the Office of Adolescent Health’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.

The program began in 2010 as a way to provide federal grant money for evidence-based programs designed to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Under the program, organizations–including Planned Parenthood–were able to apply for federal funds to facilitate these teen pregnancy prevention programs.

While a few of the programs promoted abstinence, evidence-based pregnancy prevention programs often focus on contraceptives, and they have generally proven to be ineffective at best.

For example, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest received $4 million in grant money to conduct a teen pregnancy prevention program. An official evaluation concluded,

After offering the program over nine months to middle and high school students during or after school, [youth who went through the program] were as likely as youth offered a four-hour alternative program, to report causing a pregnancy or becoming pregnant, having sexual intercourse, or having recent sexual intercourse without an effective method of birth control both immediately following the conclusion of the program, as well as in an assessment occurring 12 months later. . . . Immediately after the program, . . . females reported becoming pregnant at a higher rate than females receiving the alternative program.

In other words, not only was Planned Parenthood’s multi-million-dollar program ineffective; in some cases students who went through the program actually had higher pregnancy rates than students who did not.

Official reports show similar results elsewhere around the country. Last fall, researchers evaluating the different Teen Pregnancy Prevention programs determined most showed ineffective or inconclusive results, writing,

Many of the TPP evaluations saw positive impacts on measures such as knowledge and attitudes; however, these findings did not translate into positive behavioral changes.

We need to address teen pregnancy in America, but handing out federal tax dollars to groups like Planned Parenthood simply is not the way to do it.

You can read the federal government’s official reports on the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program’s effectiveness here and here.

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Family Council Denounces Misinformation on Abortion Laws

Abortion, , ,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 13, 2017

Little Rock, AR—Ahead of a Thursday hearing regarding legal challenges against several pro-life laws, Family Council President Jerry Cox issued a statement, saying, “A lot of misinformation has spread in recent days about these good, pro-life laws. We want to set the record straight.

“These laws help prohibit companies from buying or selling organs harvested from aborted babies. They ensure aborted babies are respectfully buried or cremated. They help protect minors who may be victims of rape, incest, or human trafficking. They require doctors to request at least some of a woman’s medical records before performing an abortion. They require abortion clinics to be properly licensed and inspected. And they prohibit surgical abortion procedures in which an unborn baby is dismembered. These are good laws that will protect the lives, health, and safety of  Arkansans.”

Cox said opponents of the laws have spread confusion through incorrect information. “Instead of talking about the merits of the laws, opponents have resorted to scare tactics and debunked rumors. A few people have tried to argue these laws somehow require a sexual assault victim to get her attacker’s permission before having an abortion or let a man sue to prevent a woman from having an abortion. These are ridiculous arguments that were discredited months ago when the legislature first discussed these laws. None of these laws lets the father of the unborn child stop a woman from having an abortion, and Arkansas does not recognize the parental rights of rapists.”

Cox praised state legislators for passing these pro-life laws last spring. “Most of these laws passed with bipartisan support. A few passed nearly unanimously in the Arkansas House or Arkansas Senate. Our lawmakers know these are good laws. I am optimistic our courts ultimately will agree.”

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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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