A Valuable Fight

This month as we celebrate the sanctity of human life, I think of how valuable the fight is for even the tiniest of lives. I am reminded of my time with President George W. Bush and our campaign to restrict federal funding for research on stem cells obtained from human embryos (ESCR). I was honored to take part in many press conferences and symposiums with President Bush and his team of advocates, making it clear that such research was totally unethical – it meant the destruction of human life. However, in the following years, President Obama lifted the Bush-era ban on embryo research resulting in millions a year in federal funds toward embryo-destructive research.

What’s amazing is, after all these years and despite all the research, zero lives have been saved. It’s a totally different story involving stem cells derived from sources like umbilical cord blood, bone marrow and adult stem cells reprogrammed to behave like embryonic ones – these ‘ethical’ stem cells are estimated to have saved over two million lives treating conditions like leukemia, diabetes, Parkinson’s, and spinal cord injuries. On top of that, new studies have shown not only remarkable treatment but even reversal for chronic diseases like multiple sclerosis! The Lozier Institute features some of these amazing stories.

In light of these astounding advancements, it’s so disheartening that, this year alone, our government will spend nearly $300 million on embryo-destructive research. And for all that money and research, not a single viable medical treatment has resulted…instead, it has destroyed countless human embryos! What can we do as Christians? Well, the Trump administration has already restricted experiments at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that involve fetal tissue. So as my friend John Stonestreet at the Colson Center says, “President Trump needs to hear from us, loud and clear.” This January, let your voice be heard…let’s tell the administration and our representatives to stop all funding on research that destroys human life!

–Joni Eareckson Tada