Embryonic Stem Cells Argumentative Essay

Words: 1393
Pages: 6

As technology steadily evolves with the times, scientists make discoveries that people of the past would have never dreamed of. From self-driving cars to new vaccinations, new scientific discoveries constantly amaze us. One of the most impressive medical discoveries was the use of stem cells. In the 1980s, scientists developed a method to derive stem cells from an organism. Stem cells are “cells with prolonged self-renewal capacity and…[have an] ability to differentiate into multiple cell types” (Lindvall). This new discovery opened many doors for medical research, but it also caused conflict to erupt. There are two types of stem cells: tissue-specific stem cells and embryonic stem cells. According to the International Society for Stem Cell …show more content…
In order to obtain an embryonic stem cell, a 14-day old fetus is used and destroyed for is cells. People who associate with pro-life disagree with this practice. They believe that life is created at conception, and through embryonic stem cell research, babies are being aborted for scientific research. Kelly Hollowell supports this claim by saying, “cloning proves scientifically that life begins at conception.” People who disagree with the use of embryonic stem cells also have a problem with the government funding these research facilities. They feel that this type of research is unethical, and the government should not fund it. Hollowell reports that “[p]olls show that the American people do not approve using public money to destroy human embryos in medical research.” She follows this statement by stating, “contemporary moral issues often follow the flow of money.” By writing this, she is trying to open our eyes and allow us to see that whoever provides the money, decides what is and is not being done in research facilities. This group of people that agrees with Hollowell and discourage the use of embryonic stem cells believe there is potential in Adult Stem Cell Research, but where there’s potential there is also