Stem cell research is a hot topic now. I Googled stem cells and found, “…Stem cells … are considered the building blocks of blood and immune systems in the body. Stem cells can … be found in the bone marrow and blood that circulates within the body. … If a person's blood stem cells become damaged due to diseases, cancer, or leukemia, the only hope for a cure is a blood stem cell transplant. This replaces the patient's diseased cells with healthy new stem cells. The cells that will be transplanted in must match the patient's cells to reduce the risk of Graft-Versus-Host Disease (GVHD).”

Stem cells can be found in both embryos and adults. Embryos are really unborn babies. Place an embryo in a womb and nine months later, you have a bouncing bundle of joy.

The media seems to make it appear that anyone who is against embryonic stem cell research is against science and miracle cures. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Adult stem cell research is making some great medical gains in many areas. Big companies are funneling major dollars into adult stem cell research because it is not only promising, but already getting results.

On the other hand, long ago the companies stopped financing embryonic stem cell research because it shows absolutely no promise of curing anything. So, the whole issue would die if it weren’t for the possibility of government funding. That’s right, our tax dollars again.

If you notice, there is no evidence ever given that embryonic stem cell research will do anything. They give a lot of emotional appeals. Who could ever forget Christopher Reeve (Superman) in a wheelchair? The plea is that if just turned loose, embryonic stem cells could possibly cure about anything!

It is reminiscent of past fads like seaweed. People were researching how to make it taste good. Seaweed was going to end world hunger! They were seeing if it would cure everything from cancer to the cold.

The point is, you can say that anything is a possible cure for anything. For instance, you could petition the government to pay you to research if ice cream might contain a cure for aides. You could put pictures on television of pitiable people with the disease and say, “Ice Cream is their only hope! If only you would give us money to research ice cream!!” But, it doesn’t mean there is any hope that ice cream will cure anything.

Now, also consider that the same stem cells found in embryos are found in umbilical cords. Lots and lots of babies are born every day that could easily provide more than they need.

So, why all the effort to use and thus kill embryos? Why not just use umbilical cords? One reason is obviously millions of tax dollars. But there is another very important reason. If they get the money for embryonic stem cell research, they will need embryos, so they will petition for our tax dollars to clone more embryos to destroy as they remove the stem cells. Next week we will think about cloning.