Right Wing Should Adopt 400,000 Frozen Embryos

[Bob Geiger]

Now that George W. Bush, aided by Congressional Republicans and the Religious Right, has ruined immediate hope of meaningful progress on stem cell research, it's time for Democrats to tell them to put up or shut up on their strident claims that a child is born almost the minute two people even discuss conception.

One of the primary arguments against federal funding of stem cell research was the alleged viability of the 400,000 frozen embryos in storage at fertility clinics throughout the country.

Sam Brownback (R-KS), one of the Senate's major stem cell opponents, even went through the theater of holding a press conference showcasing children whose parents adopted them as frozen embryos from fertility clinics --the so-called "snowflake babies."

"What we're talking about in this debate is the use of embryos, young humans, as raw materials, raw material in research, raw material to exploit," said Brownback.

Bush himself made many similar statements and his spokesman, Tony Snow, even said that Bush considers it murder to conduct stem cell research.

"What the President has said is that he doesn't want human life destroyed. Now, you may consider that insignificant, but the President has said…. believes strongly that for the purpose of research it's inappropriate for the federal government to finance something that many people consider murder; he's one of them," said Snow. "The simple answer is he thinks murder is wrong. The President is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something that is living and making it dead for the purpose of research."

Senate and House Democratic leaders Harry Reid (D-NV) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) need to call these guys on their pious claims and immediately propose legislation that would fund an adoption program for all 400,000 of the frozen embryos stored throughout America. The first people who should step up to the plate and adopt one of these microscopic entities are the 37 Senators who voted against the stem cell research bill on Tuesday and the 193 members of the House who refused to override Bush's veto of the bill yesterday. Heck, the Bush family alone could probably adopt a couple hundred of them.

That leaves only about 399,500 of the little cells to find homes for, which is where Bush can start a faith-based, Christian program and enlist the help of James Dobson, at the ultraconservative Focus on the Family, who called the stem cell bill "barbarous legislation" and lauded the veto, calling Bush "a man of his word and a champion for the pre-born."

With the 1.5 million listeners they claim for their daily radio broadcast and the combined circulation of about 2.3 million subscribers for their magazines, Focus on the Family alone should be able to provide cozy little Petri dishes for the remaining cells by the end of July.

But if, by any chance, they turn out to be a bunch of hypocrites who don't really see these as living beings or who just don't give a damn enough to help them, Bush can always hit up those God-fearing -- and science-fearing -- people at the Family Research Council (FRC).

"Rather than defend human dignity, for the first time in U.S. history a majority of Senators approved legislation to use taxpayers' money for research requiring the destruction of human life," said FRC Chief Taliban, Tony Perkins. "The President is absolutely right to veto this legislation."

With that kind of endorsement, Perkins should have no trouble getting his large, compassionate flock to adopt a stem cell or 10.

And think of what a win-win this is for everyone involved: The 400,000 cells will get a home with the people who claim to care about them the most. And the proud, new, exclusively-heterosexual "parents" will get an unprecedented amount of time to get the embryo's room ready, prep the other children for a new brother or sister and, of course, adjust the family finances for a new mouth to feed and a new family member who will need health care once they're bigger than the head of a pin.

I think this will work out just fine. Unless Congressional Republicans vote against it -- or Bush uses his second veto.

You can reach Bob Geiger at [e-mail].

[BOSSHOG]

1. Tony Perkins

says its the first time taxpayers money used to destroy life?? Now tony, the kkk member from Louisiana may be wrong. Did not the government finance the research of syphillis and other diseases on black men at Tuskegee many years ago?

tony is definitely wrong about stem cell research destroying human life but tony knows he has to excite those more insane then himself.

[valerief]

2. And how many hundred billion have been spent in war? I believe

that destroys life, if I'm not mistaken.

[ret5hd]

4. death penalty? war? radiation experiments?

what an idiot!

[unpossibles]

3. adopt an army of "Snowflake Soldiers"? n/t

[kineneb]

10. Hitlerjugend? n/t

[Gman]

17. Bush's dream army...

[burythehatchet]

5. I'm saving 12,500,000,000

little dewdrops for Sam Brownback.

[stray cat]

6. Thats consistent with a culture of life - right now they are just trashed

[China_cat]

7. After they start adopting the babies they pushed women

into carrying and releasing for adoption. The ones who couldn't find homes because they weren't perfect...or completely white. Take care of them first.

[RamboLiberal]

8. Yeah the fundies have only about 399,860 or so to adopt!

Give or take a few. Dems ought to point out the absurdity of the fundies stance!

[Auntie Bush]

9. So "The President is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking

something that is living and making it dead for the purpose of research."

But it's OK to kill all those wee children by throwing them in the garbage and letting them wither up and die a cruel inhumane death!
What a man!

What's the punishment for the heathen that kills 400,000 little people?Why aren't all those fundies outraged at this thought and up in arms demanding their release to warm loving Christian (no gay) homes?
Why aren't Fundies rushing forward to adopt these children? I'll tell you why...they really don't give a f**k. They really just want their base to vote Rethug and win elections. That's much more important than saving the lives of real live suffering people! BASTARDS!

[jayctravis]

11. Perhaps I'll start saving up semen for the Fundies to adopt.

Deliver it in a gallon jug.

Just give me like six months or so. :smoke:

[unpossibles]

13. water balloons - while harder to fill - will be more fun to deliver

:evilgrin:

[zulchzulu]

12. The National Guard should monitor & police in-vitro fertilization couples

ANY sperm or egg not accounted for should be met with a serious fine and an enforced month of paying for a month at the Jerry Falwell University.

It's time to....ah wait...I can't stop laughing...

:rofl:

[AllegroRondo]

14. Additional ideas

Lets make couples who decide to use in vitro account for every embryo they create. They must either carry every embryo to term and care for the child, or find another couple who will adopt it.

[badgerpup]

42. But...but...what happens to the parents when...

...not every blastocyst* manages to 'take'?
IIRC, the usual procedure is to use several at once to increase the chances of ONE implanting properly...which is why there often mulitple births while using this method.
F'rinstance...there's three or four on deck, yet only one or two takes... is that MURDER???

*that's the correct term for the critter at this stage...or maybe zygote, depending on how many cell divisions it's made... but it isn't technically an embryo 'til it implants in the uterus.

'snowflake baby' indeed...
:eyes:
edit to close tags

[Submariner]

15. They did...secretly

Dubbed "Operation Blizzard", the program worked in conjunction with fertility clinics nationwide as well as "snowflake baby" activists to warehouse and pool embryos which would otherwise be slated for destruction. :rofl:

http://www.myleftwing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10526

[Quantess]

26. Oh man, that's the ugliest kid I've ever seen!

:rofl:

[Harry Monroe]

40. Did anyone ever stop to think...

...that Operation Blizzard may be a ruse?? These "snowflake babies" may be a clone army of some sort or Bush may be cloning a race of super republicans. My God, I don't wanna think about it!!

[cyberpj]

16. "Snowflakes. Because no 2 are the same...and they're all white."J.Stewart

It was the perfect explanation by Jon Stewart on last night's The Daily Show.

[nosillies]

18. Good lord, do we really want these people raising any more children?

Last thing we need are a bunch of little Crazy Jrs. running around.

[vireo]

19. The wit and wisdom of Sammy the Stem Cell

Sammy, we hardly knew ye.

http://jimearl.com/sammy.html
http://www.airamerica.com/maron/clips

[rasputin1952]

20. The open absurdity is right here:

"The President is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something that is living and making it dead for the purpose of research."

But tossing the cells into the trash takes something "living" and makes it "dead"...and for absolutely nothing; no research, no future as a viable human life, nothing. Just an ignoble "death", no purpose to it at all. Is "life" so precious for these people that the 16 cells or so involved for stem cell research should be taken off the table, but to just flush them away is a viable alternative?

Perhaps when bush/Dobson/Robertson/Falwell and their ilk hold funerals for these cells, they might see the absurdity of the situation. I doubt that though....they will be spending far too much time avoiding the funerals of those that died of diseases that might have been cured or held at bay by the research that was denied. The "children" they so vociferously demand protection for don't hold a candle to living breathing children and adults that suffer every day because these self absorbed fools have lost any sight of reality or science.

I am amazed at how easily people are led to ignorance, singing and dancing; smiling as they deny the right to a decent life to the truly living. Somehow, I get the impression God is not amused.

[bklyncowgirl]

21. Let's try to be a little bit consistent, Folks

I don't hear anything from these Fundamentalist Christians about banning in vitro fertilization.

If you're appalled at the destruction of fertilized human eggs, then the obvious thing would be to call for a halt to their creation. That at least would be consistent.

Aside from the Catholics, I don't hear anyone from the pro-life side calling for an end to in vitro fertilization. If these people were serious, they'd oppose the procedure that creates these embryos and call upon their members to adopt children as opposed to using the wonders of a science that they so often oppose to give the world the continuing gift of their DNA.

[femrap]

29. I've never understood how Catholics can

rationalize invitro when they are so anti birth control and any type of 'interference' with God's wishes.

Like viagra...maybe it's God way of telling some fellas that they aren't up to reproduction standards?

I have this scary feeling that Brownback and his other crazy Opus Dei nut jobs are setting the table for forced impregnation of snowflakes....this is exactly what they want. They're a bunch of racists and worry about white people becoming a minority. They want poor women to carry these snowflakes....maybe they'll offer citizenship to immigrant women if they agree to this. I know this is where these assholes are headed.

Cuz they don't give a rat's ass about life....all they care about is achieving power using oppression.

[bklyncowgirl]

35. Actually I believe that the Catholics are opposed to in vitro

That's why they're considerably more consistent than the fundies--they're also anti death penalty.

[DemoVet]

22. How about if Jenna and not-Jenna volunteer to get implanted with an embryo

from this stock. What an example for young American women they'd be! After all, isn't that how the right views a woman, as a life support system for a uterus?

[mikeyj84]

23. Stem cells

Since when did a stem cell become a potential life, I guess every time a guy masterbates and mekes a deposit in the toilet is a thousand times worse, look at all those potential lives being wasted. Give me a break Georgie boy, How many wasted lives did you create wackin' your weenie, and oh!, how about all the lives you wasted going to war in Iraq, I quess you'll have to answer to your creator about that. I still believe thwe beast part of you ran down your daddy's leg!

[HockeyMom]

34. Add to it the Tampon Police

Must be hundreds of thousands of fertilized eggs/embryos there too.

Maybe a National Cemetery? The Tomb of the Unknown Zygote?

[RobertSeattle]

24. And the Bush Twins should lead the way!

They are young - I say they live up to their Father's "Principals" and carry two (twins) of these snowflakes each year for the next twenty years. 2*2*20 - the Bush twins could save 80 snowflakes by 2026!

[YOY]

25. We need less 'Snowflake Babies' and more 'Baby Snowflakes'

[rnisson]

27. I know why they're so afraid of stemcells...

They're immortal...imagine what would happen if they understood why, and could apply that to humans

:dilemma:

[Alcibiades]

28. The fundies call them "the microscopic unborn"

The article from "Concerned Women for America "below also calls for an end to "anti-embryo prejudice." The difference between you and me and an embryo? Not much, according to the Christian Taliban:

"All that embryonic stranger needed was nine months inside a woman willing to take care of herself and her genetically distinct womb passenger."

Oh, that's all it takes? Makes it sound as if carrying a "womb passenger" for nine months is as simple as giving a hitchhiker a ride. Of course, people won't even do that, so I'm a bit surprised to think that the author thinks its so simple, that motherhood is so frickin easy.

What the heck is she waiting for? She's got a womb! Nowadays, even post-menopausal women can take hormones so that they, too, can take on a "womb passenger." According to their website, the CWA has 32k people on their e-mail list, and I assume most of them have wombs. If they got to it, they could all be giving birth to snowflake babies in no time!

http://www.cwalac.org/article_227.shtml

[Shallah Kali]

30. They should also sign the Stem Cell Research Living Will

From Crooks & Liars
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/05/27.html#a3149

Stem Cell Research Living Will

The Culture of Life Pledge

I hereby certify that neither I, nor any member of my family, including but not limited to: children, grandchildren, cats, dogs, etc. and any "after acquired" family will never, ever, under any circumstances (even with my fingers crossed) take or ingest any form of drug treatment or medical breakthroughs that are in any way associated with or connected to Stem Cell research. I am morally opposed to this type of medical malfeasance that our lord and Savior and Dr. Dobson most assuredly rebuke. I declare that I am of sound mind and body (as so it is hence with respect to the aforementioned family members) as we execute this irrevocable document and thusly said, this document shall not be challenged in a court of law. This is so despite the fact that I or said parties, would either now or in the future, be the beneficial recipient of such a repugnant life enhancing treatment . Only the Devil's greatest tool, i.e. "temptation" could lead us into sinful thoughts of partaking of this reprehensible policy.

____________________________
XXXXXXXX

____________________________
Rest of Family

____________________________
Pets

____________________________
Notary Public

____________________________
Witness

[lmarcotty]

31. Sorry, I can't help but say it again...

The right wingers are dumfoundingly, jaw-droppingly, unbelievably, certifiably insane. I know we all have that feeling several times a day - but the degree to which their insanity goes unremarked by the MSM and people who are not addicted to websites like DU is beyond terrifying. Because someone above mentioned it, I went and looked at the "Concerned Women for America" website - and it made me absolutely nauseous.

Let's see if we understand the logic:

- It's murder to use zygotes/blastocytes for research instead of ... what? Leaving them frozen forever? Throwing them in the trash?

- These are pre-born children and have a right to life - so, are we going to find the "parents" (i.e., the donors) guilty of child neglect if they don't "defrost" and implant the cells?

- It's murder to use "pre-born" - cell clumps that are not sentient, not intelligent, not capable of emotion or autolocomotion or breathing - for stem cell research, but it's okay to kill Iraqi and Lebanese children by the thousands as an incidental of the "war" on "terror"?

These people are so far removed from reality that there is simply no hope of reaching them. How is it possible that the United States has become a place in which so few people have an understanding of even the most basic principles and methods of science? I need to go home and play with my dogs before reading more news drives me over the edge.

[twaddler01]

32. Simply put, and I agree 100%

So much useful research we just DESTROYED..thank you *!!! :mad:

...sad sad sad :cry:

[chat_noir]

33. FReepers* are suffering cognitive dissonance over this article...

If Embryos are Human then Fertility Clinics are Death Camps: Pro-abortion Columnist

TORONTO, ON, July 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-abortion columnist writing for the National Post has followed the logic of pro-life arguments about the evils of embryonic stem cell research and concluded that, if true, then artificial reproduction techniques must also be considered murderous on the scale of genocide.

“In short, if embryos are human beings with full human rights, fertility clinics are death camps—with a side order of cold-blooded eugenics,” writes Michael Kinsley in an article entitled Where’s the Logic? “No one who truly believes in the humanity of embryos could possibly think otherwise.”

Kinsley explains that in vitro clinics, in their efforts to produce a successful pregnancy, always create numerous embryos, ultimately selecting the best and destroying the rest. Thus not only is murder involved, as thousands of embryonic human beings are destroyed in fertility clinics, but also eugenics, as only the healthiest embryos are selected for implantation.

“In any particular case, fertility clinics try to produce more embryos than they intend to implant. Then…they pick and choose among the candidates, looking for qualities that make for a better human being…If the fertility clinic rejects you, you get flushed away—or maybe frozen until the day you can be discarded without controversy.”

The only logical conclusion, he says, “is that if embryos are human beings, the routine practices of fertility clinics are far worse—both in numbers and in criminal intent—than stem-cell research.”

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jul/06072105.html

*http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1670111/posts

[Sparkly]

36. So, when will we see Repub candidates going after fertility clinics?

hahahaha :rofl:

[Shallah Kali]

44. So when will they GOP ban fertility clinics for this reason?

Are too many of the donors or the GOP themselves making use of clinics? Is it fear of creating a bigger backlash from familys who have used fertility clinics is bigger than ticking off those suffering from Parkinsons, Alzheimers, MS, etc.?

[Sparkly]

37. Now THAT is a truly macabre thought...

And I'll bet somebody would make a fortune selling little clothing outfits for the Petrie dishes...

(Oh, somebody should SO photoshop that!!!)

[DollyM]

38. Come to Illinois . . .

Our Gov just approved 5 million for stem cell research in Illinois. Have some concerns about this as the state is having some financial problems and has just launched a program to provide health insurance to all children in the state . . . but, it's a start.

[Sparkly]

39. In the long run...

...seems to me that both investments could pay off well for your state.

[Roland99]

41. http://www.embryoadoption.org/

http://www.embryoadoption.org/

[bluedog]

43. GOP here (link)get paid to carry the embryos

http://www.openarmsconsultants.com/index.php?action=main