"Save the Leftovers: What's Wrong with Research on 'Excess' Embryos"
Sanctity of Life Sunday, Feb.24/02
Psalm 139:13-16; Jn.6:12f
Intro: Excitement in the Lab
As we focus this year on Sanctity of Life, there's a lot of excitement in the research lab that rivals the usual pro-life concern for preborn babies, the elderly, and the disabled. What's all the excitement? It's about something called "stem cell research".
This has been described as possibly the biggest medical breakthrough since the discovery of antibiotics. Stem cell research has the potential to cure diseases that affect millions of people - diseases such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, diabetes, paralysis, heart and liver disease -- even provide new skin for burn victims. We probably all know people who suffer from such ailments and could benefit from a cure.
Breakthroughs are being announced at a breathtaking pace. In September, University of Wisconsin scientists reported they had developed primitive human blood cells from embryonic stem cells. In Montreal at McGill University, researchers have harvested stem cells from mature human skin and grown them into muscle, fat, and brain cells - all with "beautiful neurons", able to transmit nerve impulses. Also at McGill, heart muscle protein began to grow in damaged areas just four weeks after injecting adult stem cells into patients with chronic heart disease. In Hamilton at McMaster University, scientists have regenerated spinal nerves by transplanting intestinal cells into the sensory nerves surrounding a severed spinal cord. Nerves that can't normally regenerate at all have been made to regenerate with the body's own cells. (I always though it would be wonderful to be like a salamander which can grow a new tail if it loses the old one!)
Researchers in the UK have used embryonic stem cells of mice to treat hearing deficiencies. They take the stem cells from a 10-day-old mouse embryo, and inject them into the ears of deaf people. The stem cells stimulate growth in the damaged auditory nerves and encourage regeneration leading to the ability to hear. Super!
But as technology surges ahead, ethics lags behind. All this research is creating a big demand for stem cells. These are unspecialized or "blank" cells that can divide infinitely and differentiate into the over 200 various cell types in our bodies. In adults, stem cells are stored in various places throughout the body: bone marrow, the cortex of the brain, skin, body fat, and in other major organs. They will gravitate from these storehouses to an injured part of the body to begin the regenerative process of healing. But stem cells are also available from fertilized human eggs or embryos before they are 14 days old. These "embryonic" stem cells are perceived to be easier to work with and have more potential applications.
Harvesting stem cells from adults is a time-consuming and expensive process, whereas embryos offer a more easily accessible and economical source. Since embryos have higher concentrations of stem cells it is more economical for researchers to cull embryonic sources than adult. Embryos are readily available from several sources but most commonly come from abortion clinics and fertility treatment centers. Donating aborted preborns to research is not a new practice for abortion clinics. And most fertility clinics in Canada keep a store of 'excess' embryos. When a couple visits a clinic to receive fertility services, the usual process is to fertilize more eggs than are necessary for implantation into the womb on the first "try". The embryos not used are then frozen and stored for research purposes. But in order to harvest their stem cells, the embryos must be destroyed.
Scientifically, it's a fact that you and I were all once mere embryos. Our life began at conception. As soon as the parent cells unite, that first single cell has a complete set of chromosomes, exactly like what you and I have now in each cell of our body. Our identity is set from conception. Thus harvesting embryonic stem cells, which always results in death for the embryo itself, is murder of that unique preborn baby. By contrast, use of adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood, the placenta, skin or bone marrow requires no destruction of human life.
Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family, says, "To argue that 'surplus' embryos may be thrown away in any case arrogantly glosses over the fact that embryos are living human beings, created in the image of God and deserving protection. They are tiny boys and girls with complete genetic codes, not spare parts for medical experiments."
Wisdom from the Word
God's "take" on the Preciousness of Preborns
Let's take a minute and review what God teaches us through scripture about how precious life in the womb is. Genesis 1(26f) says we are made in God's "image" and "likeness", male and female; thus human life has innate dignity, it's special. Psalm 139(13-16) describes God as knowing us when knit together in our mother's womb; our frame was not hidden from God when we were made in the secret place; "Your eyes saw my unformed body.All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." So from the word "go" (embryonically speaking) we were known to God then as much as now.
We see personality ascribed to a preborn baby in Luke 1(41,44) when in the womb John the Baptist leaps "for joy" at the sound of Mary greeting Elizabeth. Paul tells the Galatians (1:15) that God set him apart before he was born. And as we read last week in Ephesians 1(4), God chose us in Christ "before the creation of the world" to be holy and blameless in His sight. That's pretty early on!
In the Old Testament, the sixth of the Ten Commandments, "You shall not murder," is not limited to those above a certain age(Ex.20:13). Killing of infants in religious ceremonies (by burning them in the fire - how awful!) was carried out by Israel's neighbours, but God considered such an atrocity unthinkable (Deut.12:31; 2Kings 17:17,30; Ps.106:37,38; Ezek.16:20; Jer.7:31; 19:5). Even an injury to a pregnant woman was treated seriously if there was harm (Ex.21:22-25).
Jesus Saves...the Leftovers
Is there such a thing as an "excess" or "surplus" embryo? Is any human life (even embryonic) to be reduced to the status of a spare part, or an animal to be sacrificed in research? Hollywood star Michael J.Fox (who lives with Parkinson's) spoke before a Congressional hearing in favour of research using embryonic stem cells. He said, "I just want to urge people to not follow a knee-jerk reaction. This is tissue and cells that are going to be thrown away." His approach is, these are throw-away cells: why not make some use of them?
Jesus created some of the biggest excesses in history. On one occasion he fed over 5000 people from 5 barley loaves and two fish. Another time he fed 4000 from 7 loaves and some fish. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all record at least one episode of Jesus feeding a multitude. And there was quite a surplus each time, up to a dozen baskets of uneaten pieces left over. Yet Jesus' attitude was one of saving the leftovers, not destroying them. He tells his disciples in John 6:12, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
I'm not making this up just because I tend to be a pack-rat! Our Lord was following a long tradition from the Old Testament of not wasting leftovers. In Exodus (29:34) and Leviticus (7:16f; 19:6), portions of offerings remaining till the third day are not to be disrespectfully discarded but treated as sacred. Jesus' physical ancestor Ruth saves the left over roasted grain she doesn't eat at lunch with Boaz to take it home for Naomi (Ruth 2:14,18). And when in Hezekiah's reign the Israelite tithe their harvest to supply the priests and Levites, the excess is gathered into storerooms (2 Chronicles 31:10). So Jesus followed a well-established Biblical tradition of saving the "left-overs". We ourselves were outcasts, wasted and lost in sin, but Jesus is our Redeemer: God sees value in those who are least. Christ went to the cross to redeem or buy us back from the eternal garbage heap. How can we even consider cannibalizing unborn embryos for research?
Arguments against Exploiting Embryonic Stem Cells
As usual, there are logical and ethical reasons that support sound scriptural principles. We've already noted that stem cells can be obtained from other sources. A brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health from the organization "Real Women" notes, "...there are already proven alternate sources of stem cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord, placenta, human fat tissue, skin and even the brain cells of deceased adults - to name just a few, which makes embryo stem research unjustified. This is especially so since these alternate sources eliminate the difficult problem of rejection of foreign material by the body caused by embryonic stem cell implantations. In contrast to the successful use of adult stem cells, human embryonic stem cells have never been used successfully in clinical trials...it is an acknowledged fact that embryonic stem cells have unlimited ability to proliferate, which can create problems since the proliferation may cause serious tumours in the individuals in which the stem cells have been implanted."
A study involving embryonic stem cell transplants, published last March in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported that about 15% of the medical patients who had received embryonic stem cell injection showed worsening symptoms of Parkinson's Disease by writhing and jerking uncontrollably and flinging their arms about. Neurologist Dr.Paul Greene reported, "Their fingers go up and down, their wrists flex and distend...it's a real nightmare.And we can't selectively turn it off."
There is a real risk of the marketing of human parts for financial reasons - kind of a "slave trade" of the preborn. Cloning companies may offer women $3-5,000 each for eggs. A fertility clinic in Virginia announced it's creating embryos for the sole purpose of destroying the embryos for stem cells. A Massachusetts company has plans to use cloning techniques to create embryos for lethal stem cell harvesting. The stage is set for laboratories to crate "embryo farms" to provide researchers with an unlimited supply of fresh embryonic stem cells. A University of Calgary biochemist warns that without federal intervention, a black market in human embryonic tissue could well emerge in Canada. As he puts it, "We have frozen embryos that are going to be discarded and they may as well be used...If they're not, some other source will be found."
If we ignore the sanctity and dignity of human life for embryos, who's next? The Nazis conducted experiments on Jews because they were viewed as expendable. In Communist China, organs are harvested from convicts on death row after or even before their execution, and the parts are sold to generate revenue. It's a small step from justifying research on surplus embryos to justifying the practice of "eugenics" -- manipulating the next generation's gene pool by "weeding out" babies who might be born with undesirable traits. A disabled person would soon have no right to be born. Just this past week, a Montreal woman was acquitted of murdering her disabled teenage daughter although it was acknowledged she did administer the poison.
Do we matter more than being just "matter" to be experimented upon? Are human embryos just "stuff", lower on the scale than my daughter's pet guinea pig? God's Word upholds the sanctity of human life, whatever ends researchers claim may justify their means. CS Lewis wrote: "If any one age really attains, by eugenics and scientific education, the power to make its descendants what it pleases, all men who live after are the patients of that power," slaves to the "dead hand of the great planners and conditioners". Lewis warned that if man with his technology makes the ultimate conquest over nature, he will soon find that nature has conquered him. He said, "If man chooses to treat himself as raw material, raw material he will be," manipulated by dehumanized conditioners.
The Way Ahead
There have been some positive developments for the "excess" embryos left frozen and stranded at fertility clinics - alternatives to being ripped apart for research. One adoption agency in California created an embryo adoption program called "Snowflake" because it seeks to recognize the uniqueness of every tiny embryo. Couples hoping to adopt undergo a standard adoption home study, and the parents of the frozen embryos select the adoptive couple from qualified applicants.
Some couples seeking help from fertility clinics are finding doctors willing to collect, fertilize, and implant only one egg at a time. While more expensive, this reduces the problem of winding up with leftover embryos.
For us Canadians, the federal government has drafted legislation for consideration this spring called the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Although it specifies that embryos may not be created solely for research purposes (which is good), it does permit research on excess embryos created during in vitro fertilization (which is NOT good). Christians need to be getting informed, praying, and letting their representatives and neighbours know that the dignity of human life extends right from conception on. This is urgent! Besides Michael J.Fox, celebrities like paralyzed Superman Christopher Reeve are drawing publicity. Reeve's Paralysis Foundation actively promotes the use of embryonic stem cells in research. A Health Canada survey last April reported that 86% of Canadians now believe it is acceptable to take stem cells from donated human embryos.
Speaking Out / Summing Up
Take courage from other conscientious authorities that have already spoken out. A guiding principle of Hippocrates' oath from the 5th century BC is, "First, do no harm." The Nuremberg Code, a response to the atrocities committed through medical experimentation on Jews during World War II, echoes this principle. It states, "No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori [an existing] reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur (except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects)." US President Bush in his statement on embryo stem cell research last August said, "Others will argue that there is no such thing as excess life and the fact that a living being is going to die does not justify experimenting on it or exploiting it as a natural resource." The Real Women brief states, "The embryo represents the transmission of human life from one generation the next and because it is a genetically unique living entity, it should not be used for research.We do not need human victims to end human suffering." Dr.Robert Pankratz is vice-president of Physicians for Life Canada. He has said, "Nothing mitigates against the destruction of a human life.You can't put a value judgment on it.When a human life is destroyed, it's irretrievably lost."
But let's close by listening to our Master; the one whom Isaiah described as gentle, not snuffing out a smouldering wick or breaking a bruised reed (Is.42:2). Our Lord Jesus cautioned in Matthew 18(10), "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."
He truly does save the leftovers -- even the little ones. Let's pray.