Yet another interesting contradiction in the "morality" of state policy has reared its ugly head, and I'm trying to sort it out here. Now, before I begin, I have to bring up the point (since it may not be evident from my arguments later on) that I can't say I'm all for this human embryo stem cell research thing at all. I don't consider myself an expert or even a novice in the study of embryonic development, and I have had some difficulty finding reliable, unbiased scientific information regarding the official definition of the word "embryo" and the parameters guiding the operators of infertility clinics, hospitals, etc. Consequently, I don't really consider myself qualified to have an opinion or make judgement on the morality of the issue. I can say that it makes me uncomfortable; I cannot justify that discomfort due to my essential ignorance.

Apparently our current government is far more confident than I in their knowledge of the surrounding science, and so all I can do is to sit back and hope they have been more well informed on this issue than on some that have come up in the past (economics, national defence and the criminal justice system, for instance).

Having said all of that...

According to the recently released guidelines set forth by the federal government (pending actual legislation, I would hope), you can't just go using any old embryos for stem cell research; they must be essentially unwanted, by the current "owners" (infertility clinic, parents, etc.) - they have to be donated. Furthermore, it is a big bad no-no to clone or create human embryos for the sole purpose of research...

WHY????

It's not illegal or even particularly taboo to destroy the little fuckers over matters of convenience, lifestyle or vanity, or without explanation at all. This would, I would have thought, imply that the official position of the government was that they had no rights whatsoever and should not be considered important at all. If you can find another explanation for the widespread, common use of abortion in relatively (or completely) unnecessary circumstances (see: "I don't want to ruin my figure; I'm only twenty."), then by all means, let me know, but until somebody fills me in on why it's considered ethically acceptable to destroy unborn babies on a whim, I'm going with Ockham's Razor, which leads me to this: APATHY. We don't fucking care. So, if that's the case, why can't we clone the embryos for research? Or just plain run clinics and fertilize new ones in vitro and then destroy them as well, for their little stemmies? Huh? Somebody toss me an answer here, 'cause this isn't making sense. I've heard lots of "because that would be wrong." That, obviously, doesn't help. If it's not compassion (which it plainly isn't), then what is it? What are we so afraid of? Human rights activists? We've never let them get in the way before. Religious groups? They're all a bunch of morons anyway. Satan??? I mean, I know cloning is a tool of the Dark Prince, a technology planted on Earth to help us destroy ourselves so we can all be enslaved eternally to his malicious will, but that still doesn't explain the stigma surrounding in vitro fertilization. Judean-derived religions might not appreciate it very much, because the babies they were slaughtering would be totally pure and sinless, but that didn't stop us from killing Jesus, so why the hell not? At least we'd learn something; all we got out of the Lord was a lot of whining and some incoherent babble about how it didn't matter anyway 'cause he was the son of God.

Could it be...

public opinion?

(dun dun dun....)

Naw. That's never the reason for anything our governments do, so I guess it has to be that they're simply a higher moral authority and I can't begin to understand the situation as well as they. I guess it's only okay to kill babies if you don't get anything useful out of it.

------------------

In conclusion, I'd just like to ask that we move the young offender maximum age to 33, establish a 100% blanket income tax and abolish the right for citizens to own property, 'cause frankly, I don't think this country is quite fucked enough yet.