A Modest Proposal Regarding Stem Cells
So, science marches on. The New York Times has detailed a new method for extracting embryonic stem cells from in-vitro fertilizations, one which still leaves behind a viable blastocyst for implantion. Since this does not involve "killing babies" (snicker), one would think the Religious Right -- you know, the people who are allegedly "pro life" -- would approve of a technology which could enhance and extend human life to an incredible degree. Even if the uses for stem cells turn out to be more modest than some hope, they could easily end diabetes and many other degenerative illnesses, repair hearts, and so on.
But, no, of course not. Technology bad. If God wanted us to be healthy and long-lived, He wouldn't have invented diseases.
Quoth the nitwit:
“You are creating a twin and then killing that twin,”
Nutter.
But, never let it be said that Lizard lacks the desire to reach a reasonable compromise and find a middle ground. (Because, you know, that would be a lie.)
So, here is my own modest proposal:
Some 3/4s of all potential pregnancies spontaneously self abort.
Women who are sexually active and who do not use birth control could volunteer to collect their menstrual blood. This would then be checked for such self-aborted fetuses.
Since God, the Intelligent Designer, Who Sees Each Sparrow Fall, had made, by His own inscrutable judgement, the decision that little Timmy-to-be was heading down the toilet with the tampax, no good Christian could object to his cells being harvested. God had already told the soul which entered the egg upon fertilization that its entire experience of mortal life (remember, no reincarnation in Christianity) would be a ride down a fallopian tube, with no capacity for sensory input or awareness of any kind. Said soul would then head on to heaven (being below the age of awareness of sin). This means, of course, that heaven is dominated almost entirely by souls whose complete experience is 2 or 3 days of total sensory deprivation.
I bet the conversations up there are great.
