Here's a few things to think about concerning Embryonic Stem Cell research...
First off, the ESCs actually come from a human blastocyst, NOT a fetus (though they could be taken from an aborted fetus, but that's another point entirely). A blastocyst is merely a group of cells roughly 5 days old (after conception). If anything, these blastocysts are more like blueprints to make a fetus in the future. They are not yet classified as a fetus.
Embryonic Stem Cells are like little blank slates for cells. They can become any of the hundreds of kinds of cells you find in the body, which is why I say it's like a blueprint. The blastocyst hasn't developed into anything yet. It's a group of blank slates. There are no bone cells, or nerve cells, or skin cells, or brain cells just yet. Just a bunch of blank cells waiting to be told what to do.
Now, one of the big questions we're seeing is: do we have the right to take the stem cells from these blastocysts? Well, let's take a look at where they're coming from first...
Embryonic Stem Cell research doesn't consist of a doctor walking to a pregnant lady and saying "Hey, we're taking your unborn baby and killing it for its stem cells." That's not how it works. The majority of the blastocysts we use are leftover from in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization results in several extra blastocysts (backups, in case the first one doesn't work). These extras all all thrown in freezers and sit there for years and years until they are either adopted or discarded. Very, very few of the blastocysts will be adopted (we're talking hundreds out of hundreds of thousands). The rest will either continue to sit in the freezer, or be thrown out because nobody will claim them, the owners stop paying for storage, or the owners will be lost due to paper work mishaps and the like. So, we have nearly 400,000 of these blastocysts just sitting in freezers across the country, and the vast majority are eventually just going to be thrown away. Why not put them to good use and benefit all of mankind? The blastocysts could be used to find the cure to cancer, or Alzheimer's Disease, or Parkinson's Disease. They can cure Daibetes. They could potentially reverse paralysis. Why not let them be used for this research? Is it more humane to destroy them for research, or let them sit in a freezer for several decades until they are thrown out?
Oh, and as for alternative methods for harvesting Embryonic Stem Cells: Last January, Wake Forest (I think) found a way to isolate Embryonic Stem Cells through amniotic fluid. The method is undergoing more research right now, but it's looking very promising.
