Earlier today the court decided to overturn a judges order that blocked funding for stem cell research. The White House was quite excited about this ruling saying that it was a good day for scientists all over the US and gives hope to patients with serious disorders that maybe some day a cure will be found through stem cell research. Among this conditions it includes spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's disease. But on the other side many people believe that stem cell research is a form of abortion because an embryo has to be destroyed to obtain the stem cells. In 2009, President Barak Obama lifted the restriction of federal funding for stem cell research, but shortly after that a district judge put a hold on this by filing an injuction. After todays court hearing this injuction was dismissed and funding for stem cell research restarted. That injuction was appealed many times because there were many people at NIH (National Institutes of Health) and many muti-year projects would be in jeapordy which could lose millions of dollars. The lift of the injuction has excited many researchers because they will be able to continue their research without politics getting in the way. Any mothers who wish to donate their embryo to stem cell research are also given the option to donate their embryo to an infertile woman. Even still there are many who believe that it is against some religious grounds and that obtaining stem cells requires people to destroy the embryo. All in all today was another historic event in terms of science.
Reading about this topic really tears me in half. I have a huge love for science and all the potientials it has. With stem cell research we may be able to find cures for diseases we deemed uncurable in the past. People will be able to live longer and better lives if they can be cured of their diseases. On the other hand, many time when an embryo is harvested it is completely destroyed killing that unborn child. I feel that abortion is a terrible thing to do to an individual who is not yet born who can't say their opinion to fight against what is going to be done to them. I also feel that those who decide to have an abortion should have been acting in a different manor so that they wouldn't be put in a position to decide whether they want an abortion or not. Like I said, I am completely torn on this topic between the moral sided of this subject and the ethics of stem cell research. I believe that this topic will always be this controversial and there will always be arguments about it.
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