Evilsciencechick

Yesterday, Congress voted to use federal money to fund stem cell research. It came after a long emotional debate, with testamony from patients who would benefit from such research. Testamony that moved many of your own cronies…I mean republicans, to BUCK the party line and vote in favor (Bravo, ladies and gentlemen…for a brief moment, I saw a shining hope for the future of our government. It won’t last, but it was nice).

You and your toadie Delay, however, surrounded yourself with parents of in vitro fertilization obtained and adopted children, and called it murder. A waste of life. Once again, portraying scientific research as evil, out to steal and gobble up the nation’s children in our gingerbread laboroatories. “Let them be adopted” was the cry. “The best that can be said about embryonic stem cell research is that it is scientific exploration into the potential benefits of killing human beings,” said DeLay. Yes, thank you, Tom. That’s the absolute best way of putting it. mm hmm. You want to demonize? I can demonize you, too!

Let WHAT be adopted…the thousands of clusters of cells left over after in vitro fertilization treatments? OK…fine. Let those who WANT to adopt out their tiny clusters, do so. Let those who want to adopt, do so.

That STILL leaves thousands of them stuck in freezers…losing their potential for ANYTHING, let alone life. They will be eventually thrown away. Flushed down a toilet. Oh yeah…THAT’S respect for life.

Let’s forget for a moment that those happy smiling faces of parents with their in vitro and in vitro adopted children WOULDN’T EVEN BE there if it weren’t for science. What was it, 26, 27 years ago that the first test tube baby was born. Public outcry! Science was trying to replace the parents! Soon, we will all be fertized in a test tube and developed in fish tanks! And brainwashed, a la 1984! How dare science play God!

Well, guess what…it’s 2005, children are still born the normal way, and now thousands of infertile couples get to experience the miracle of science in in vitro fertilization.

Let’s forget all that. So you are saying that throwing those tiny clusters of POTENTIAL life is evil? Is a waste? Because you KNOW they won’t all be adopted. Oh, you might have some religious groups, I don’t know…trying to “sponsor” some of them, pay for further storage of them in the hopes that they can find mothers for them. But realistically, you know that you won’t find parents for them all. And they will be destroyed…or slowly die in their frozen storage. And don’t tell me that’s not a waste.

Because there are children out there now who can benefit There are mothers and fathers and grandparents who are suffering from wasting diseases. Those unwanted clusters of cells (and you notice I’m refusing to refer to them as “embryo,” because that evokes some kind of emotional response in people. They are fertized eggs that have split a few times. Most of those that are implanted into a woman never actually take hold. They are rejected and die. Do you accuse these women of murder? Is that a waste of life?)

And you are looking at those suffering people, and you are spitting in their faces. You are telling them that research that could save their lives is evil, and murder.

And that is wrong. And guess what? Many of your own party disagrees with you. And I would bet that most of the country does to. Oh, you can slant polls the way you want. Phrase the questions how you want. Spin the results.

But if you ask most people if we should, instead of THROWING AWAY fertilized clusters of cells, should we use them for disease research, I would guess that most would say YES! But the religous right has your ear. And you wont’ listen. And you will veto.

What a waste.

But guess what? Eventually, there will be a president who WON’T veto. And the law will pass. And I’m willing to bet that VERY soon after, there will be a FLOOD of papers published about using in vitro fertilized cells. Why? Because that research is most likely going on. In secret. Using TAXPAYER MONEY (oh my god the HORROR!).

Or they will find ways to work around you. The Koreans can create those SAME potential little clusters using CLONING! Ha, MORE ethical fun! And I gotta say, even I get the heebie jeebies there. Because those cells they create can be implanted and develop, too. And that’s human cloning. And that’s a whole other can of worms. But it’s a can that YOU will force open here, because of your veto. Because your ear is solely for the minority and the extreme. Because you claim to respect life, but you really respect power. You and others like you, who claim science is EVIL but reap all the benefits of advances in surgery and drugs, you hypocrites make me SICK. You don’t respect anything but yourselves.

But we will go on, with or without you. You can’t stop it. There are lives to be saved, and you are not going to stand in the way. Suck on THAT, President Asshat.