A Miracle: To Be or Not to BE?

Imagine seeing the world from half your height. Your whole life you have played lacrosse, whined about the gym, swam in the cold Atlantic waves in summer. And then one day you wake up from a long but routine back surgery to find that you can no longer move your legs. As you recover from the grogginess of anesthesia, the doctors kindly explain that by having this posture-correcting surgery, you took the small, seemingly insignificant chance of getting a paralyzing spinal chord injury, and lo and behold, your worst nightmare has come true. You became the rare case that went wrong, a tiny statistic, and suddenly you are wheelchair-bound for life. You are confined to elevators and ramps. You cannot hike to see firsthand the Parthenon in Athens or wander the rambling, green hills of New Zealand alone. You gradually grow accustomed to a handicapped life, and your quality of life is good, but still, you want nothing more than to stroll along the Maine shore at sunset or to climb the stairs to the top floor of the Metropolitan Museum. You do not want to run marathons- though you know you would try if you could- you just want to stand on your own.
Stem-cell research in the United States has the potential to solve the life-altering conditions brought on by spinal chord injury. However, with a conservative administration opposed to interfering with God's plans, such advances are impossible. Simply put, a stem cell is an undifferentiated cell with the capabilities to give rise to other, innumerable cells of the same kind. This simple definition goes much further, however; there are numerous ways that stem cells taken from a variety of places (often fetuses or umbilical cords) can help those who are gravely ill or injured. In Miami, scientists have been toiling for years in order to render a paralyzed mouse capable of walking again from the implantation of correct stem cells, and sure enough, in 2005, these scientists succeeded and the mouse, once paralyzed from a spinal chord injury, could walk again.
By viewing this information, it is easy to see that a large number of handicapped individuals with lives marred by spinal chord injury could benefit from stem cell research. Few examples of beneficence (health care providers demonstrating good and benevolent healing upon a patient) are greater or have been evidenced. If one argues for stem cell research in a utilitarian manner, it is possible to say that the benefits of stem cell research largely outweigh the cost in terms of "embryonic life." This life that is spoken of is often largely from unused IVF treatments (70,000 in Australia alone), so why let this great use of science go to waste? These cells can form almost any kind of body tissue and can help people not only with spinal chord injury but from serious disease. In addition, the personhood of these stem cells are not even defined by what kind of cells they are. They are so very far from even modern terms of personhood which change rapidly with technology. Blastocysts, often used in stem cell research, are a cluster of human cells not formed into a distinct organ's tissue, making the inner cell mass no more "human" or "personable" than a skin skill used in any common surgery. The ethical and social arguments for stem cell research are endless, but overall, isn't it obvious that the good that could come of this research is unparalleled? Wouldn't it be a miracle to have paralyzed children and adults walking again, living the lives they always dreamed of? As stated by one website, "The social, economic and personal costs of the diseases that embryonic stem cells have the potential to treat are far greater than the costs associated with the destruction of embryos."
Imagine you are that same lacrosse-loving person who has moved through their life lately in a wheelchair. Imagine that government policies have changed and you had the autonomy to choose to fix what went wrong in that surgery. Your injury is healed. Imagine that first step after years of sitting. Imagine the looks on the faces of your parents, your children, your siblings, your friends. Imagine the complete healing process your life would undergo. Stem cell research is capable of providing miracles for tens of thousands of people today; what do you YOU think is just?

-Elizabeth Schrader


Sources:
http://www.burnham.org
http://www.stemcells.nih.gov
http://www.wikipedia.com