Embryos + politics = :-(

On Monday Barak Obama signed an executive order reversing a Bush decision to limit Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The ban, dating from the Clinton era, avoided the ethical dilemma involved in creating embryos for experimentation by allowing funding only for stem cell lines already created. Although not entirely satisfactory from an ethical point of view, it was a strong statement that scientific investigation could not proceed however it wanted but needed to abide by certain social limits.

The Obama decision is disturbing for exactly that reason - it strikes down ethical limits. CNN quoted the president as saying that scientific decisions must be "based on facts, not ideology." This is a very, very dangerous position. Science that pursues facts for their own sake, or worse, that pursues facts for the lucrative profit that could result, irrespective of ethical boundaries, begins to threaten human society. The environmental damage of the past century is living proof of this. A far greater proof is embryonic stem cell research itself. Creating embryos purely for experimentation disrespects human life, the very thing the scientific community must serve and protect. Some would say that it is acceptable to sacrifice some for the good of the whole, but that is very dangerous territory. Who should be sacrificed for whom? Whose life is not worth living? To say some may be sacrificed puts my life in jeopardy.

The flaming irony of Obama's decision is that it was not at all based on facts. US News and others have reported that embryonic stem cell research is obsolete - while adult cells have produced noticeable results, embryonic cells have produced problems including tumors. Had the president been looking at the facts he would have seen good reason not to issue this order.

His decision was based on ideology as far as I can see. Science balks at the idea of being subservient to politics, as much as it craves money from the public sector. Politics revolts against the idea of ethical concerns dictating its course, forgetting that the good of human society is the only noble purpose for which politics exist. Obama's decision is not a triumph for science, nor a product of good political process, but another example of human concerns being trampled by science with political clout. The president has once more treated human life cheaply.