The International Society for Stem Cell Research voted May 25 to lift ethical guidelines that prevented professionals from performing controversial types of research, which means that scientists will now be allowed to grow human embryos in a woman’s womb then kill them in the name of research.
Carol Tobias of the National Right to Life Committee says scientists now have permission to experiment on “little human beings,” which begins with creating life only for an experiment.
“This is just no way,” she warns, “to treat human life.”
According to LifeNews.com, an U.S.-based policy dating back to 1979 established a “14-day Rule” that has been followed in human embryo research all over the world, but that limit has now been abolished.
Tobias“The ISSCR has shown an utter disregard for the value and dignity of human life,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) said in a statement. “Its previous rule allowing scientists to create and experiment on human embryos up to 14 days was already unethical and morally repugnant, but the ISSCR has now removed all restraint, allowing unborn humans at any stage of development to be experimented on, manipulated, and destroyed.”
Responding to the new rules, Dr. David Prentice of the Charlotte Lozier Institute tells One News Now researchers have also "opened the door" to human-animal mixtures known as Chimeras, which he calls "scary" progress. That means science is entering science fiction territory with human brains grown inside animals with the stated purpose of growing human organs for transplant.
"You can make those types of mixtures, and grow those organs in the lab," Prentice advises, "in what are called 'organoids,' where you can just grow the organ itself. You don't have to create a new organism..."
The international research group says the motive is to find cures and improve treatments, which sounds like a noble cause, but Tobias contends the motive doesn’t matter if scientists are ignoring their own ethics.
“They are creating life for research, and testing and destroying life,” she tells One News Now. “We have seen this in varied cases throughout our human history, but this needs to stop.”
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with comments from Dr. David Prentice.
