Here is an idea concerning embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization and Plan B. Although there are yet many exceptions, evidence suggests we are increasingly becoming a self-centered and terribly selfish people.

This evening while surfing the news, I caught a story about the possibility of creating new embryonic stem cell lines without destroying any embryos. A just-released study was hopeful it could be done, but its results were already being challenged. One exchange between experts briefly occupied itself with the ethics of in vitro fertilization. One man thought that it was wrong to create “excess embryos” that in many cases were ultimately destroyed. Another man insisted that committed couples who desperately wanted children but had found no success following more traditional methods should never be denied access to the hope the in vitro procedure could offer. If in the process of helping such a couple give birth to a healthy baby of their own, other embryos were created and then destroyed, certainly the end justified the means. And what reasonable person would not consider it a bonus when some of those “extra embryos” could be used in research that might improve life and health for the rest of us?

Flipping the channel I ran straight into a story about the Food and Drug Administration approving Plan B (a birth control measure) for over-the-counter sales. It is well known that taking these pills can contribute to the destruction of a fertilized human egg. Plan B's advocates considered it only a partial victory because minors would still need a doctor's prescription for this drug.

In one case it is apparently okay to destroy embryos in the process of making a wanted baby. In another case it seems to be okay to destroy fertilized eggs in the process of eliminating unwanted babies. Welcome to our brave new world. In this fresh millennium, principle and self-sacrifice may just be too narrow and old-fashioned to survive. Far be it from the church of Jesus Christ not to move with the times. Right?

Scott Kleinknecht, Colonial Beach

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