Here is another one for the Clone the Truth campaign. This one's from embattled Missouri. Here is my letter:
Dear News Director,
There are several misrepresentations in your story "Cloning Scandal May Affect Mo. Stem-Cell Debate" dated 1/12/06 found on www.thekansascitychannel.com.
First, your story states,"But some people want to ban that work, claiming the research kills human embryos."
It is not just "some people" that claim that this research kills human embryos. With the most common techniques, researchers cannot extract embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo. So there is no debate over the fact that embryonic stem cell research destroys the embryo. The debate is whether killing embryos for their stem cells is ethical.
Also, you refer to these stem cells as "early stem cells." This is a euphemism. The scientifically correct term is embryonic stem cells, because they are derived from embryos.
For your readers to properly decide on these issues they need all the information about this research. Therefore, I ask that you please clarify the facts in your story.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Taylor
Rebecca, our support or opposition to SCNT and ESCR rests on whether we consider a blastocyst to be a person or not. I do not believe it is. You do. What I still want to know is why I have to live by your misunderstanding. I have never seen a blastocyst referred to anywhere as a person. You don't ever have to participate in or be a beneficiary of any such research. There is so much that needs to be done to make life fairer for actual, living people, I think your interest in and bias for potential people is misplaced.
Rayilyn, you are cleary a subscriber of the Personhood theory. I have never used the term person in the Clone the Truth campaign, nor will I ever. The debate over personhood belongs in a philosophy class not in a discussion of scientific terminology.
Clone the Truth is about the facts which are:
An embryo is a new human life (as described in any embryology book) and cloning creates an embryo and embryonic stem cell research destroys that embryo.
Any respresentation of cloning or ESCR any other way is misleading and scientifically incorrect.
That being said. You ask "why [you] have to live by [my] misunderstanding" and insist that I "don't ever have to participate in or be a beneficiary of any such research." Actually, if state or federal funding goes to this research then I am FORCED to participate with my tax dollars. So I ask you, "Why do I have to pay for your misunderstanding?"