The Lab Rat of the 21st Century
The new executive director at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity discusses recent bioethical debates.
Interview by Alicia Cohn
July 23, 2009
Organ transplantation on the black market and interspecies animal-human embryos might sound like science fiction, but Paige Cunningham says they are the emerging bioethical challenges.
Closer to home, topics such as abortion and stem cell research regularly fill news headlines. Christianity Today spoke with the new executive director at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity about the overlap between science and ethics.
What new bioethical challenges are you considering?
We've been talking with people from India and Africa about issues like the black market in organ transplantation. Crossing animals and humans has been approved in the U.K. There is a shortage of human eggs, so they want to use animal eggs. The reality is that these bioethical issues are not just an American or a Western concern; they are significant frontline issues around the world.
We recently saw news that New York will begin paying women to donate eggs for research.
People who are outside evangelicalism share real concerns about the impact on women's health and the potential exploitation of women. It's an irony that a young, white, smart, beautiful Ivy League college student can get up to $50,000 to donate her eggs, but in New York State, the limit is $5,000. They're not really interested in the eggs for their genetic qualities. They just want eggs to create embryos. The issue shows real potential for exploitation of women who are trying to pay off a credit card bill or a mortgage. She'll get one-tenth of what the Ivy League woman gets, and she may risk serious impact on her health.
What are other bioethical issues Christians need to be better educated about?
Adult stem cell research, which is using stem cells from anything other than embryos, is very successful. There are people walking around today who are alive because they had an adult stem cell treatment, using their own stem cells. There are also other alternatives to produce embryonic stem cell lines that don't involve the destruction of an embryo: Altered Nuclear Transfer, which is still in active research, and IPS, Induced Pluripotent Stem cells. If Christians were going to pick one to be well informed on, stem cell research is probably the one I would encourage them to spend a little time with.
Should Christians focus their efforts on the courts or through legislation?
The real bioethics activity this year has been happening through the actions of the administration. As I looked at the new National Institutes of Health guidelines, my reaction was, "It could have been worse." They actually have an ethical component, and there is some effort to re-introduce ethical standards into scientific research. So it's not all bad, [although] it's horrendous that it's approving embryonic stem cell research, which destroys human embryos. A second area of administrative action has been the rights of conscience, particularly in the upcoming health care bill. There's a huge concern that doctors are not going to be able to practice ethical medicine—that they will either have to counsel or refer procedures that they consider immoral, such as abortion, or stop practicing. We have concerns that abortion will be considered part of normal "reproductive health services." So it's happening more this year in the legislative, executive arena rather than in the legal arena.
How can Christians reconcile our stance supporting life with our desire to help people who can benefit from stem-cell research?
As Christians, we know that the ends do not justify the means. If we have the good end of alleviating suffering, but it involves destroying tiny human beings, it's wrong. Researchers have gotten around this by saying, "These embryos are never going to be implanted into a womb, they're never going to grow into a human being, so they're not really human." The important thing to realize is whether the embryo is in a Petri dish or in a uterus, and whether it has been created by a cloning procedure or laboratory fertilization or in a womb, biologically there's no difference. Our question is: what is their destiny? Some have the destiny to be allowed to continue their development and grow, and others' destiny is just to be research material for scientists. The embryo has become the lab rat of the 21st century.
Copyright © 2009 Christianity Today.
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Related Elsewhere:
More information and educational resources are available at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity website. Cunningham also recommends the following resources:
Christian Medical and Dental Associations
The American Association of Pro-Life OB-Gynecologists
StemCellResearch.org
Christianity Today has a special section about Life Ethics on our site, including:
After George Tiller's Death | Pro-life advocates wonder whether doctor's murder will reshape debate. (June 16, 2009)
Abortion Violence and American Democracy | The ironic relationship between the pro-life movement and its radical fringe. (June 3, 2009)
Be Careful What You Wish For | Access to federal money may be mixed blessing for embryonic research. (April 23, 2009)
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