Why Pro-Life Politicians Must Be Against Stem Cell Research

Senators Orrin Hatch and Trent Lott, strong, longtime pro-life leaders, recently came out in favor of research that uses the cells of discarded embryos.

The senators have opened a Pandora's box that will undermine the movement they continue to say they're members of. In the future, pro-choice leaders will undoubtedly be heard to say, "Even Senators Lott and Hatch say it's OK to kill an unborn life if it's for a good cause."

No one knows whether embryonic stem cell research will result in useful medical breakthroughs. But if embryonic tissue at this earliest stage is permissible fodder for laboratory experimentation, then why not embryonic tissue derived from tissue a week later, or two week later, or six weeks later? Human life is either sacred from conception to its natural end or it's not.

Alas, this stem cell issue has smoked out members of Congress who may be pro-life but may not genuinely believe life begins at conception. This sort of breaking of the ranks happens because some members of Congress don't, unfortunately, believe that the tissue we're talking about is in fact a form of human life. This wrong conclusion allows them to then rationalize allowing experimentation.

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