Danforth’s Stem Cell Research

and Cures Initiative is a Lie

Commentary by Scott Klusendorf

He claims the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative “strictly bans human cloning” when he and everyone else at the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures must know that just the opposite is true.
Danforth, a pastor and former U.S. Senator, is leading the push for tax-funded embryo research in Missouri, yet misleading language is all over his coalition’s so-called fact sheet. Here are some examples: “The Initiative clearly protects the right of Missouri patients to have their diseases and injuries treated with any stem cell cures that are allowed by federal law and available to other Americans. It ensures that Missouri medical institutions can provide and help find new stem cell cures.”
What’s not said is that federal law currently allows cloning for any reason whatsoever, including stem cell procurement. (While the House overwhelmingly passed bans on cloning, the legislation stalled in the Senate.) The only current restriction is that federal tax dollars may not be used for destructive embryo research. Hence, by definition, the Missouri initiative would specifically allow the creation of cloned human embryos for medical research.

The fact sheet continues:

“It creates clear ethical and safety guidelines for stem cell research conducted in Missouri. And, it resolves concerns about human cloning by strictly banning human reproductive cloning to create babies.”
First, cloning is cloning–period! The alleged distinction between ‘therapeutic’ cloning and ‘reproductive’ cloning is totally misleading because ALL cloning is reproductive. So-called “reproductive” cloning means allowing the cloned human to be born alive. “Therapeutic” cloning means creating him or her for research, but killing them before birth. In either case, the act of cloning is exactly the same and results in a living human embryo. Second, pro-lifers don’t just oppose the destruction of cloned human embryos because it kills “babies”–we oppose it because it unjustly takes the life of a defenseless human being, regardless of his or her stage of development. I’m sorry, but Danforth, the self-proclaimed “pro-lifer,” knows this.

Here’s the biggest lie:
“There are two basic sources of ES cells. One is leftover fertility clinic embryos that would otherwise be discarded. The other is a process called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT), which uses a patient’s own cells and a donated, unfertilized human egg to make ES cells.” Excuse me, but Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer IS CLONING. It’s a three-step process. First, an unfertilized egg is taken from a woman and its nucleus is removed. Next, genetic material (DNA) from the patient is placed inside the vacated egg. Chemicals are then added and a spark of electricity jolts the cell into dividing and growing into a cloned human embryo, which is later destroyed for its stem cells. A decade ago, this same technique gave us “Dolly,” the first cloned sheep. For Danforth and company to pretend that this is not cloning is an outright lie.
Moreover, SCNT does NOT make ES cells. It creates a living human embryo that will then be destroyed so researchers can GET stem cells.

Elsewhere in the coalition’s so-called fact sheet, Danforth writes:
“I strongly support the Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative because it will save lives and because it respects the sanctity of life.”
Seriously? Does it respect the sanctity of the embryo’s life? Does the proposed destructive research help save its life?
Notice how Danforth simply assumes the embryos in question are not human beings. Suppose I suggest curing cancer with a new “fresh blood-cell therapy initiative.” In the process, I make it very clear I only want to cure disease. But I leave out one small detail: I’m going to get these fresh blood cells by killing toddlers for research. Would anyone in his or her right mind frame my proposal as a debate between those who support cures and those who don’t?
Look, ESCR is not morally complex, despite claims to the contrary. It comes down to just one question: “Is the embryo a member of the human family?” If so, killing it to benefit others is a serious moral wrong. It treats the distinct human being, with his or her own inherent moral worth, as nothing more than a disposable instrument. Conversely, if the embryos in question are not human, killing them to extract stem cells requires no more justification than pulling a tooth.
So why won’t Danforth and company debate that question?
Here’s why. The facts of science make clear that from the earliest stages of development, embryos (whether produced through normal reproduction or cloning) are distinct, living, and whole human beings. True, they have yet to grow and mature, but they are whole human beings nonetheless. Leading embryology textbooks affirm this.
So remember: When Danforth and company say they only want to find cures for disease and can’t understand why religious conservatives would oppose that noble goal, what they really mean is that human embryos should be cloned and killed for medical research–and your tax dollars should pay for it!
It’s time we made them spell that out.

Scott Klusendorf is the president of the Life Training Institute and travels throughout the United States and Canada training pro-life advocates to persuasively defend their views in the public square. He contends that the pro-life message can compete in the marketplace of ideas if properly understood and properly articulated. A passionate and engaging platform speaker, Scott has appeared on nationally syndicated programs like Focus on the Family, Billy Graham’s Hour of Decision, The Bible Answer Man with Hank Hanegraaff, For Faith and Family with Dr. Richard Land, Faith Under Fire with Lee Strobel, and American Family Radio with Tim Wildmon. Nationally, he’s participated in numerous debates at the collegiate and university levels. Scott is a graduate (with honors) of UCLA.