Annals of Personhood: stem cell research edition

President Bush is expected to veto the new bill allowing Federal funding for stem cell research.

The whole argument against stem cell research is based on the assertion that the abandoned cells accumulating in fertility clinics are persons. Destroying them is tantamount to murder. The assertion is false. The cells are not persons. One might call them potential persons just as an egg or a sperm is a potential person. Nobody calls a woman a murderer when she passes an egg not fertilized from her body.

Despite all the misguided charges of murder and genocide, the majority of folks in the country and Congress are not fooled. We know the difference between a clump of cells going nowhere but the trash can and persons.

A person is an individual suffering from a deadly or debilitating disease who would benefit from stem cell research.

Meanwhile, stem cell research will continue without Federal funding. Once President Bush passes from the political scene in 2009, Federal funding will finally pass into law.

Way to go, Mr. President.