Stem Cell Debate: This Far and No Farther?

President Bush has said ‘this far and no farther on federal support for embryonic stem cell research.’ That’s fine, but the President has already ceded the moral high ground that in some circumstances it is all right to use elements of human life that have been deliberately destroyed to improve the health of those already born. It is an important moral point. Once these decisions rest solely in the hands of men and women, it is only a matter of time before scientists, with the help of politicians and certain worthless clergy, wrest that power from a President’s hands and become gods themselves and gods unto themselves.

President Bush will not have the final say on this. Already, members of Congress are promising to introduce legislation to broaden the use of stem cells. Keep in mind that stem cells don’t vote, but individuals do. Democrats will use this to make Bush appear insensitive. What if the polls show that a majority wants fewer restrictions? Will morals trump politics? Not after a moral compromise has been made, as it already has.

Slippery slopes get slippery for a reason. When there is no foundation, there is nothing for us to hold onto.