Illinois Federation

For Right to Life

Daily News

Friday, June 13, 2008

The Struggle for a Moral Bioethical Sector

 

If you paid attention to the media you would think that those who oppose embryonic stem cell research and human cloning, genetic engineering, and fetal farming are "anti-science." But this is not a science debate. It's a debate about ethics. It's a debate about morality. It's a debate about what is right and what is wrong. That is beyond the purview of science.

 

Science can tell us that an embryo is a distinct human organism. It cannot tell us, however, what moral value this entity should be accorded. That issue, and it's a crucial issue, is one of philosophy, values, religion, and ethics. It is a different area of human thinking and endeavor. Science can tell us what the organism is. It cannot tell us what it's worth.

 

Science is in danger of devolving into a special interest that uses all the tools of the trade to gain a blank check. What is being asked for in this debate over embryonic stem cells research and cloning is not just a financial blank check, although that's a huge part of it, but also an ethical blank check. But science without ethics can become monstrous.

 

The Intrinsic Value of Human Life

 

Human life must have intrinsic value simply because it's human or none of us is safe. Because otherwise it means you have to earn your value and who decides who is valuable and who is not is a matter of power, instead of a given. And that is what we are fighting against.

 

Science can tell us what is, but it can't tell us good from bad, right from wrong. Therefore it is not anti-science to oppose embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. It is pro-science to care enough to keep this powerful enterprise within proper ethical parameters.

 

It is not anti-science to stand for intrinsic human dignity. It is pro-human. It is not anti-science to deny the assertion that only scientists can tell us what is moral in science, it is pro-democracy.

 

It is not anti-science to insist that the government not fund research that destroys nascent human life. It is keeping with the post-slavery struggle in America to prevent human life from ever again being treated as a mere natural resource to be exploited.

 

Leon Kass, former head of President's Council on Bioethics, has warned that we are developing into a culture that will allow anything in the name of curing Uncle Charlie's Parkinson's disease. The problem with the attitude of accepting anything is that the ends don't justify the means; the means become the ends.

 

So let's face it, the struggle for a moral bioethical sector is difficult. It requires one to swim against powerful cultural tides. It requires the fortitude to stand up for what is right in the face of demagoguery, name-calling, and the false accusation that you lack compassion. That takes courage.

 

But it seems to me that taking unpopular stands, because it is right, swimming against powerful cultural tides, because it is right, and standing tall in the face of demonization, because it is right, is courageous and is what the pro-life movement is all about. And I know you will take up this challenge with integrity and love for your enemies because that is the pro-life way.

 

The Science Establishment believes that "might makes right"--that their money, their credentials, and the bias of the media will carry the day. But we disagree.

 

We agree with Abraham Lincoln who said that it is the other way around--that "right makes might." 

 

Contact: Dave Andrusko

Source: National Right to Life

Source URL:  http://www.nrlc.org

 

 

The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in Illinois. A non-profit organization, that serves as the state coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is dedicated to restoring the right to life to the unborn, and protection for the disabled and the elderly.   Click here to learn more about the IFRL.