Years ago, the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon explored the forests of Florida for the famed Fountain of Youth.
The water from this fountain was supposed to cure all ailments and ensure that the drinker lived forever.
To make a long historical narrative short, Ponce de Leon and his men never found the fountain; instead, many ended up impaled upon the spears of natives.
Unless some evil CEO at Disney World holds the secret of eternal life, I think it is fair to say that Ponce de Leon's expedition was a futile one.
Yet today in our "enlightened" age we still follow many of the same fables.
The names have changed and we have moved into the realm of science to attain our own mythical Fountain of Youth.
The movement to back embryonic stem cell research is heading the human race in the same direction as Ponce de Leon's infamous expedition. It can only lead to failure and disaster.
Embryonic stem cell research is an ethical problem no matter what supporters say.
Stem cells are formed in the early stages of human development when a new human being is growing inside the mother's womb.
Although the developing human being has long been an acceptable target for groups like "Planned Death Hood," some members of the scientific community have joined this bandwagon of death in the name of progress. They clone and rip apart human embryos to serve in their experiments.
Many people across the world, including myself, are very concerned about the human cost of this "research method."
I believe life begins at conception and at this point a person is formed.
The Bible states in Pslam 139:13 "For it was you (God) who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
I believe all human life is sacred and under our laws every person deserves the right to live a life full of dignity.
Although my readers may not ascribe to my beliefs, I challenge you to look at the issue this way.
Everyone who reads this paper was once an embryo and you could have been subject to this same treatment.
Unfortunately, many in the scientific community and their liberal supporters appear to suffer the same side effects as those who have attended far too many Star Trek conventions.
This can be observed by their confusion when differentiating objective reality from pure science fiction.
There is an old saying that warns we all should be careful when someone offers us something that seems too good to be true, because it probably is.
Although scientists are right in stating that the hopes for regenerative medicine are very high with embryos, they leave out certain facts.
First, adult stem cells have close to as much, if not as much, promise as embryonic ones.
Additionally, embryonic stem cells have many side effects.
Test subjects (like mice) often come down with unexplainable tumors.
Even worse for this research's prospects is the fact that the body can reject the implanted stem cells much like an incompatible organ.
Despite the naysayers, President Bush has actually taken the most scientifically promising field of study and backed it with federal funding.
The president backs funding for adult stem cells.
Taken from placentas or umbilical cords at birth or a number of other areas in an adult human body, these types of cells have shown much potential.
People with debilitating spinal conditions have gotten up out of their hospital beds and walked around.
Although they were not fully cured, the adult stem cells implanted into their spines greatly improved their chances of leading normal lives.
Other successes in various areas of the body are numerous.
So far, adult stem cells have treated 56 different diseases or conditions while embryonic stem cells have treated no one.
Adult stem cells from various parts of the body have treated patients with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, immune system disorders, spinal cord injuries diabetes and more. The list goes on and on.
Despite years of failure, certain state governments like New Jersey and California have seen fit to overlook the federal ban on embryonic stem cell research and their own enormous budget problems to fund this ethically suspect exploration to the tune of $400 million and $3 billion, respectively.
I ask with huge budget deficits, which Democrats now seem to care about only when Republicans are in office, why are we funding a study that has produced no results over the past decade and is ethically objectionable to most people?
Furthermore, liberals, why are you disobeying your sovereign lords at the United Nations who have banned human cloning worldwide, the very practice that would be used in each of these studies?
Science must be answerable to morality and common sense. Embryonic stem cell research is neither.
It is morally repulsive, critically flawed and has a more promising alternative in adult stem cells.
