Does embryonic stem cell research destroy human life?
RP: Human embryonic stem cells are all derived from embryos that would never give rise to a child and therefore human embryonic stem cell research does not destroy any life. These embryos are often not of sufficient quality to be used for reproduction or are extras from couples who successfully bore children using other embryos. Despite suggestions that couples could adopt out these embryos, so far that is not something that potential parents have been willing to consider. WH: Yes, by current methods, the procurement of ESCs requires the destruction of human embryos. However, ESCs themselves do not have the moral status of a human life because they are merely “pluripotent,” meaning they have the capacity to give rise to all the cell types of the human body but not the coherent and integrated unity of a living organism, which requires a “totipotent” embryo. Drawing on this distinction, in May 2005 the President’s Council on Bioethics laid out four proposals for obtaining “pluripotent st
