Stem Cell Research, Is it Ethical?

This posting is mostly in response to some earlier discussion and discussion on other related blogs.

There is no doubt in my mind when I say stem cell research is ethical. I don't think it is really a matter of whether it is ethical or not, I think the ethical issue comes in when we discuss where we get the embryonic cells. I don't believe an embryo has any moral status. It is a cell, not a human being. It is part of a human being, but it is not an actual being. There are currently millions of embryonic cells that are sitting unused in labs, from aborted births, prenatal deaths, and other sources. Stem cell research could be a huge benefit to human life in a medical sense. It can allow scientists to use human cells in cancer research and drug testing.

So lets get down to the nity grity of the ethical issue I am raising...
Where will the embryonic cells come from in the future? I don't think that it should be made public knowledge that stem cells from aborted births are used for stem cell research, because I think that will promote a rise in abortions and irresponsibility among sexual relations. I am not a 100% pro-lifer, however I do believe the only abortions that should be made would be those of women who were sexually assualted and were bearing a child from a sexual encounter against their will.

I think it is perfectly fine to use embryonic cells from prenatal deaths and by any other way in which a scientist can get these cells without resorting to an aborted birth right away.

Is it a need or a want?

Why do we really use animals in medical experimentation? The following statement was made in class the other day: "It is not a want, it is a need." I have to agree with this statement. A few people tried to argue that it was human choice in the first place that people got diseases, however,there are some illnesses and diseases out there that people do not recieve by lifestyle choices, they are genetic, and they just get them. For those reasons, and those reasons only, I support animal experimentation for medical research in trying to find vacines and cures for genetic diseases. If someone is sick merely because they ate too much fatty foods, then that was their lifestyle choice and they have to deal with it. But if someone is sick because of a genetic disease or for a reason beyond their control, then that is where medical research steps in and attempts to find a relief or cure for that disease.

Animal Experimentation

Ok, so when is something so wrong its right? Or when is something that is considered wrong by so many, the right thing to do? I'm talking about Animal Experimentation. There are large amounts of people out there in the world that widely dispise animal experimentation for medical research and claim it is crulity to animals. I'm not saying it is necessarily the right thing to do, but I believe it is the better thing to do. The only other option that has been presented to this point has been clinical research, and in my opinion, animals which are bred for experimentation are more exendable than human lives. The way I see it, the majority of healthy people in this world would never put them into an experimental position that could end up costing them their lives. Now of course animals can not pick whether or not they are experimented on, however, researchers are beginning to breed certain animals just for expermintation, and I see it as a lesser of the two evils. People will disagree with me, and go ahead, disagree, however, just keep in mind, would you rather be in the place of the rat?

Meta, Normative, Applied, and Whatever else

When you look at ethics in the professional world, what comes to mind first? Is it what constitutes as professional? Is it what are ethics? Where did ethics come from? What do professional ethics focus on? Or why are ethics so important?
First of all, lets start with what ethics are... Ethics are a set of standards that people around the world set aside as knowing what is right and what is wrong. A professional is vaguely defined as someone in the working force with power over other people, such as a CEO, or a person working in the medical field, legal field, Military, scientific field, government field, etc... So if you put the two words together (Ethics and Professionals), then you get the term Professional Ethics, and it is vaguely the set of standards that define right and wrong in the professional world.
However, the question is still posed, where did ethics come from? That is where Meta-ethics, Normative ethics, and Applied ethics come into play. In brief, meta-ethics is the study of the source of ethics. Meta-ethics explores many possibilities as to where ethics are derived from. Normative ethics is built off of meta-ethics as the set of standards people follow in order to do good in their life, or create the perfect world. This set of standards and the source of ethics in both normative and meta-ethics are the base for applied ethics, which is used while looking at professional ethics. As I go on about this over the next several weeks, I will be looking at numerous topics relating to professional ethics and exploring whether it is ethical.
Look for the next post, exploring animal experimentation.