The Associated Press reports:
BOSTON (AP) — The furor on Capitol Hill over Planned Parenthood has stoked a debate about the use of tissue from aborted fetuses in medical research, but U.S. scientists have been using such cells for decades to develop vaccines and seek treatments for a host of ailments, from vision loss to cancer and AIDS.
Anti-abortion activists triggered the uproar by releasing undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials that raised questions of whether the organization was profiting from the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood has denied making any profit and said it charges fees solely to cover its costs.
University laboratories that buy such cells strongly defend their research, saying tissue that would otherwise be thrown out has played a vital role in lifesaving medical advances and holds great potential for further breakthroughs.
Fetal cells are considered ideal because they divide rapidly, adapt to new environments easily and are less susceptible to rejection than adult cells when transplanted.
Arguendo, let’s presume that this is entirely true. We would still have a problem, no? “This tissue is extremely useful” is a good answer to the question, “how useful is this tissue?” It’s not a good answer — or any answer at all, really — to the question, “is it moral to collect and to use this tissue?”
Wherever one stands on that, it should be clear by now that we are not currently engaged in a practical debate as to whether doctors can do amazing things if given the opportunity; rather, we are embroiled in an ethical debate as to the appropriateness of a) killing unborn children in the womb, and b) using their dismembered bodies for research. Some people take the view that there is nothing wrong with this at all. Others consider that it is akin to murder and organ harvesting. Fair enough. But one can no more bridge that divide by arguing that it’s “expedient” than one could have bridged the divide over slavery by appealing to economic efficiency. Moral debates are just that: moral. Dr. Mengele made some significant strides, too.