and well lets you think as well
tho funny that..
i get home and i forget everything..
hm think i remember again now..
Australian vote on stem cell cloning sparks controversy by Lawrence Bartlett
Tue Nov 7, 10:16 PM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - A vote in the Australian senate to permit the use of cloned human embryos for stem cell research has sparked an emotional debate on the ethics of the controversial scientific procedure.
New legislation overturning a ban on therapeutic cloning passed by 34 votes to 32 in a late-night session marked by warnings of a nightmarish future in which scientists create monsters.
The legislation will now go before the lower house of parliament, where it is expected to be approved and become law.
Prime Minister John Howard has allowed a rare conscience vote on the issue, giving senators and members of parliament the freedom to vote outside party lines.
The bill would allow researchers to clone human embryos to extract their stem cells in the hope of one day finding cures for debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia.
Cloned embryos would have to be destroyed within 14 days and could not be implanted in a woman.
Australian neuroscientist Peter Schofield told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that part of the fierce debate spawned by the senate vote was focused on when life first begins.
"For some, it's the moment the sperm and egg meet or that any other cellular form that has the potential to be an embryo comes first into existence," he said.
"The reason the 14 days has been used is that's the first point in time where there is a commitment of any of the cells in that embryo to actually become a foetus and then a baby."
Existing laws allow stem cells to be harvested only from surplus IVF embryos.
The new bill provoked intense and sometimes emotional argument in the senate, with government senator Julian McGauran warning of the creation of human-animal hybrids.
"Under these sets of beliefs, once it is created, all becomes a horror story," he said.
"It has all the pride equal to a Nuremberg rally -- a rally of Dr Strangeloves chanting for such weird experiments as the creation of hybrid embryos, mixing humans with animals."
A successful, last-minute amendment to the legislation by the Australian Democrats specifically ruled out animal-human hybrids.
Another amendment increased from 10 to 15 years the prison sentence for flouting safeguards designed to prevent abuse of embryonic cloning.
The issue is controversial worldwide, with the latest high-profile intervention in the debate coming from Hollywood star Michael J. Fox ahead of the US mid-term elections.
Fox suffers from Parkinson's disease, one of a number of debilitating illnesses which scientists hope could be cured through stemcell research.
The "Back to the Future" star provoked conservative fire after campaigning on behalf of a Democratic senator against President George W. Bush's veto in July to block expansion of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.
In Australia, female senators tipped the balance in the vote with 19 out of 23 approving the legislation.
Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja said she was delighted that the bill had passed, calling it one of the best legislative decisions in which she had taken part.
But the senate leader of the rural-based Nationals Party, Ron Boswell, described it as a dark day in Australian politics.
"We entered a race and we created two types of embryos, one born to live and the other created to die," he said.
you know really ive never thought much about stem cell research..
but then again i had little knowledge bout what i was infact about
i guess in this year it really has caught my attention..
Interest rates rise of 1/4%? with Aust in total owing a TRILLION dollars?
and some lady informed by anz that they had actually past away
the day after her birthday and having her credit card cancelled
despite the fact she's still alive?
hm and on that im paying attention to the news again..??
hm well news and today tonight..
despite some critisism that it may just be propoganda
O.o
not that paying attention to what's happening is bad..
but during time when i should be studying..
eck. guess despite other things which may be more distracting..
whether or not i get distracted and procrastinate
is not thru temptation
but really if your own intention is to procrastinate..
there will always be something to distract you from study..
guess i got lazy on the own opinion side..
but on the stem cell..
if there really is a possibility of cures..
there will always be a cost for anything
hopefully the choice made really will be for the best
whether or not 14 days is something that is deemed as a life
who is formed to apparently die.. whether or not the embryo
is alive i dunno..
a tug on ethics but all i ask is who is to deem
what is ethical as who is perfect
or ethical enough to be allowed to judge..
whatever the choice there will be some to oppose
and tell me is it really against that of natural selection
in the preventing the lowering of unfavourable characteristics
but with the ability to help someone..
would you rather leave them to die
to prevent further continuance of that potential sickeness..
such as Alzheimers (linked to genetic factors?)
or just to save that one extra life as
you have the possibility to find the cure to?
at the price of potential lives?
well thats all i can say..
mind this is the opinion of one who is limited in knowledge
so there is a high chance that i got something wrong
and have an opinion on something that is completely incorrect
if so plz tell me what's wrong so my knowledge of things may be corrected :)
i guess
nite nite that was a bit of a ramble for something
that was intended to be a few lines only..
*hugs*
-Del
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