Christian Worldview Concepts

The Ethics of Embryonic Biology

Embryos as Commodities

Despite these patently disrespectful views, it is argued that the NIH "safeguards" will ensure that embryos will not become commodities, but that is precisely what they have become. Are they not commodities when researchers claim that additional "stem cell lines" are needed because existing ones are either "contaminated" or insufficient? This means that more "leftover" embryos will need to be strip mined for their stem cells, without regard for the real loss of human life that ensues.

How are we not to think of embryos as commodities when it is proposed that we permit therapeutic human cloning (cloning of embryos for medical research, not procreation) to provide "pure" stem cell lines? Those who want therapeutic human cloning try to comfort us with assurances that the embryos they clone will never be used for human procreation. This is supposed to make us feel better about cloning and think of embryos as something other than commodities?