American Life League tells Congress that embryonic stem-cell research is unethical

Washington D.C., May 4, 2004 / 22:00 pm

The American Life League issued a letter yesterday to every member of the United States Congress, urging them not expand embryonic stem-cell research. The letter was presented in response to a request, submitted by 206 House members April 28, that President Bush expands research in the field.

The league is calling on President Bush and members of Congress “to seek ways to advance the ethical scientific research that is being done using stem cells that do not require the destruction of human embryos.”  

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, and Fr. Joseph Howard, director of the league’s American Bioethics Advisory Commission issued the letter on behalf of “thousands of Americans who oppose the willful destruction of human beings during their first days of life.”

The American Life League argues that there is no scientific evidence to prove that the use of embryonic stem cells can contribute to treatment for human diseases. Instead, the league argues that research has “overwhelmingly concluded” that adult stem-cell research is promising. In addition, adult stem-cell research does not have the ethical problems and “deadly results inherent in human embryonic stem-cell research,” reads the letter.  

The league points out that the request submitted by the 206 Congressmen does not acknowledge human embryos as persons. Embryos “are still human beings and should be treated with the same respect with which we treat all members of the human family,” the league argues.  

“Medical research that is dependent upon the destruction of human beings for its advancement is not only immoral and unethical, but a stark reminder of times gone by when scientists in another country treated human beings as though they were mere objects,” says the league. “We do not want to see the same tragic mistake made here in America.”