A Conservative Argument against Stem Cell Research Essay -- Stem Cell

A Conservative Argument against Stem Cell Research For the past few years stem cell research has been a widely debated topic; however, former President Clinton?s stance?allowing federal money to be spent on tightly controlled stem cell research?lead to intense debates over federal funding for stem cell research. There are four ways of obtaining stem cells, which are taken from embryos that are approximately one week old. They are using unwanted embryos from fertility clinics, embryos from aborted fetuses, cloned embryos, and embryos created for research purposes. Stem cells can also be taken out of adult bone marrow, but scientists do not think that adult stem cells hold as much medical potential. Conservatives are against federal funding for stem cell research because they feel that by doing such the government would be contributing to ?murder.? This idea is rooted in the religious beliefs, which include the belief that life begins at conception, held by conservatives. However, liberals support federal funding for the resear ch of embryos because they question whether embryos are full human beings and believe the research could expedite potential medical breakthroughs. The editorial, ?Stem Cells and the Logic of the Nazis,? appeared in the September 3, 2000 issue of the Los Angeles Times. Even though the Los Angeles Times, a widely distributed newspaper, has a slightly liberal slant, this editorial displays a strongly conservative view on stem cell research. Thus, the author of the editorial has to be very cautious in the tone that he uses in order not to offend liberal readers. George Weigel, the author of this editorial, picks apart what he sees as the fallacious argument of Michael Kinsley, a well-known libe... ...vative which is supported by the fact that Weigel is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Since, he is writing to an audience with a vast range of political viewpoints and he must be very careful not to be too aggressive in the tone he uses. Weigel begins this article with very basic logic and then progresses to logic by analogy with incorporated pathos. This is a very effective method for him with conservative readers because he is successfully able to transfer emotions about other subjects into emotions about stem cell research. He also uses logic by cause and effect, which in this case is designed to create fear in the reader: fear that history will repeat itself. Source Cited Weigel, George. ?Stem Cells and the Logic of the Nazis.? Editorial. Los Angeles Times. (September 3, 2000): 5. Online. Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. A Conservative Argument against Stem Cell Research Essay -- Stem Cell A Conservative Argument against Stem Cell Research For the past few years stem cell research has been a widely debated topic; however, former President Clinton?s stance?allowing federal money to be spent on tightly controlled stem cell research?lead to intense debates over federal funding for stem cell research. There are four ways of obtaining stem cells, which are taken from embryos that are approximately one week old. They are using unwanted embryos from fertility clinics, embryos from aborted fetuses, cloned embryos, and embryos created for research purposes. Stem cells can also be taken out of adult bone marrow, but scientists do not think that adult stem cells hold as much medical potential. Conservatives are against federal funding for stem cell research because they feel that by doing such the government would be contributing to ?murder.? This idea is rooted in the religious beliefs, which include the belief that life begins at conception, held by conservatives. However, liberals support federal funding for the resear ch of embryos because they question whether embryos are full human beings and believe the research could expedite potential medical breakthroughs. The editorial, ?Stem Cells and the Logic of the Nazis,? appeared in the September 3, 2000 issue of the Los Angeles Times. Even though the Los Angeles Times, a widely distributed newspaper, has a slightly liberal slant, this editorial displays a strongly conservative view on stem cell research. Thus, the author of the editorial has to be very cautious in the tone that he uses in order not to offend liberal readers. George Weigel, the author of this editorial, picks apart what he sees as the fallacious argument of Michael Kinsley, a well-known libe... ...vative which is supported by the fact that Weigel is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Since, he is writing to an audience with a vast range of political viewpoints and he must be very careful not to be too aggressive in the tone he uses. Weigel begins this article with very basic logic and then progresses to logic by analogy with incorporated pathos. This is a very effective method for him with conservative readers because he is successfully able to transfer emotions about other subjects into emotions about stem cell research. He also uses logic by cause and effect, which in this case is designed to create fear in the reader: fear that history will repeat itself. Source Cited Weigel, George. ?Stem Cells and the Logic of the Nazis.? Editorial. Los Angeles Times. (September 3, 2000): 5. Online. Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.