Editorial

Defending Human Life in a Brave New World

Posted

Last month the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it intended to begin funding research on animal-human chimeras. These are literally part human/part animal creations from the very embryonic stage of development.

The federal government should not spend taxpayer dollars on research that so obviously crosses an ethical line. This involves the creation of new creatures who cannot be easily determined to be human or animal. This question is crucial as it determines what sort of moral obligations we have to these new beings.

The creation of these chimeras relies firstly on the destruction on a human embryos. That is, they involve the killing of human beings at the earliest stage of development. Once the embryo is destroyed it is harvested for embryonic stem cells which are then introduced into an animal embryos.

The NIH had issued a moratorium on funding such research last year. At that time, cooler heads prevailed and they realized this sort of research shouldn’t be funded by the American people. Now, a year later, with no greater clarity about the status of these part human/part animal embryos, the NIH has reversed itself and will federally fund this research.

This news represents yet another sign that human life is not sufficiently valued in our culture. Christians strive for a culture where the strong protect the weak and every life is recognized as having great value. Sensible people hope the federal government will cease funding this immoral research immediately.