Mailee Smith, posting on the Americans United for Life blog, alerts us to a great (though brief) speech on the House floor from Dr. Dave Weldon (Army veteran, internal medicine physician and Republican Congressman to Florida's 15th District). The speech concerned the about the "breath-taking" summer it has been for medical breakthroughs, particularly with the Harvard studies into the direct "reprogramming" of adult cells in the pancreas into insulin-producing cells and the Harvard/Columbia creation of 21 disease-specific stem cell lines for further research.Both breakthroughs, furthermore, are free from the immorality of destroying embryos.
"There is no medical reason to proceed with research into cloning human embryos for their stem cells because that science is obsolete, it is more cumbersome, it is more expensive, said Dr. Weldon. "We have a better, quicker, easier way to do it.”
“Science is moving beyond the debate. Science is taking us in a direction of ethically responsible research.”
The link given at the end of the AUL story to a video clip of Dr. Weldon's remarks didn't work when I tried it. But I think this one will. The talk is just 5 minutes -- well worth your time.
