Frist Flip-Flop 2

In our earlier post about Senator Frist’s change of position on embryonic stem cell research, we said, “It seems to us this is more akin to donating the organs of a deceased person than some Mengelian atrocity.”

Charmaine Yoest disagrees, and offers a challenge to the analogy between using an embryo for research and organ donation.

Given that the embryos in question are in a freezer, and that they will be destroyed in either case, we remain unconvinced. It seems to us there are two real possibilities – the embryos will be destroyed, then incinerated, or the embryos will be destroyed, then used for research.

So the “destroyed” part is in the equation either way. The only remaining question at that point is whether those embryos, once destroyed (dead) will be incinerated or used for research. That’s why we see it as morally more akin to (though not, perhaps, exactly like) organ donation than infanticide.