Six Degrees of Roe vs. Wade

So when do we get our money back? O.K., not all of us, but surely those in California.

University of Pittsburgh researchers have discovered that one type of cell in the human placenta has characteristics that are strikingly similar to embryonic stem cells in their ability to regenerate a wide variety of tissues.
The cells, called amniotic epithelial cells, potentially could be used to produce new liver cells to treat liver failure, or new pancreatic islet cells to cure diabetes or new neurons to treat Parkinson's disease.
Unlike embryonic stem cells, which are obtained only by destroying human embryos, these cells can be extracted from the same placentas that now are routinely discarded after birth. They thus could be a non-controversial alternative to embryonic stem cells.
"We think it would be easier to get these to the clinic than [embryonic stem] cells," said Stephen Strom, an associate professor of pathology at the Pitt medical school.
Not only do amniotic epithelial cells lack the controversy of embryonic stem cells, but they also do not generate the tumors associated with embryonic stem cells, he said. So it may be possible in some cases to simply transplant the amniotic cells to a patient, rather than to first grow the desired specialized cells in the laboratory.

This is the exact reason government should not spend our money on something it knows so little about. Why men like Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross should leave science to the scientists. And government should leave medicine to the doctors and private investors.
But the ethics of proper use of tax dollars are for another post.

In reality, it seems to me, this whole issue has never been about saving lives and curing diseases. If that was the case, funding would have gone to treatments that have not just shown promise, but actually cured something. Treatments like adult stem cells. From Michael Fumento @ TownHall.com

A bit of reading will give you more knowledge about these cells than the average doctor possesses. You might learn that ASCs(Adult Stem Cells) are CURRENTLY used in over 250 clinical trials and are treating over 80 different diseases.

Embryonic stem cells to this date have cured NOTHING, they are a gamble. Sure, they hold potential. Not unlike the promised potential of cold fusion. Or solar power. But, should government gamble with our tax dollars on the future potential of ESCs when other avenues, like adult stem cells, are producing cures today?
So why are we so focused on Embryonic stem cells in the first place?
Because curing disease is not what this issue has ever been about.
It is about Pro-Choice.
It is, at its core, simply six degrees of Roe vs. Wade. It is about the devaluing of human life. Devaluing of the human fetus. Until it hs no meaning. Until it is merely a grouping of cells to be poked, tuned, and dissected at the Frankenstienium whims of science. It is about taking away the possibility of a future life in order to give comfort to a present one. How far is that really from ‘a woman’s right to choose’?
It is six degrees of Roe vs. Wade.

Crossposted @ The Wide Awakes