NPR : Taking Issue... Stem Cell Research

Arguing the Ethics of Stem Cell Research

NPR.org, November 22, 2005 · Debate over embryonic stem cell research involves politics and money, science and faith. But for most Americans, the decision to proceed ultimately rests on the question of whether a human embryo is a human. Taking Issue put this question to two prominent bioethicists.

For Research

Laurie Zoloth

"We are more than our DNA maps, for we are our love, our chance for duty. Careful use of the human blastocyst may be seen as a basic human duty in the face of significant suffering."

Laurie Zoloth is a professor of medical ethics and humanities and of religion at Northwestern University and the Feinberg School of Medicine. She is the past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.

Against Research

Robert P. George

"The adult that is you is the same human being who, at an earlier stage of your life, was an adolescent, and before that a child, an infant, a fetus and an embryo."

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is also a member of the President's Council on Bioethics.

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