Should we take eggs from aborted babies?

After doing a bit of investigation, I need to apologize, in part. Although the article that I first ran across (the one linked in the OP to the Christian Post) is from today, the author cited the original article, published in the Daily Mail, without realizing that it was ten years old.

While all aspects of the story are correct, it is from 2003, not 2013. Blame news websites that put today's date on their stories, instead of the published date, as the Daily Mail does.

Here is the original paper, published on the research cited in the OP: Immunocytochemical detection and RT–PCR expression of leukaemia inhibitory factor and its receptor in human fetal and adult ovaries

I am still appalled by the notion of harvesting eggs from aborted fetuses (though I am not opposed to IVF, sorry if it came across that way,) but it does not appear that things went further than the "this might be done" stage.

Mods, feel free to move this thread to a more appropriate forum, as it is not breaking news. Apologies again.

reply to post by adjensen


I think that this is about as sick as our society can get.
To get any sicker than this would put humanity on a lower
scale than animals.Animals tend to treat their young better
then we humans do.

So youre ok with the fetus being tossed into the dumpster but not ok with it being put to use and THEN being tossed in the dumpster.

reply to post by Retikx


I DON"T BELIEVE IN ABORTION,IT IS MURDER!
Only to save the life of a mother if there is no hope
for saving the child.
This attitude is exactly what I was talking about in
my first post.We are all becoming monsters for accepting
this abomination to happen.

Originally posted by Retikx
So youre ok with the fetus being tossed into the dumpster but not ok with it being put to use and THEN being tossed in the dumpster.

If that's directed at me, no. I believe in the dignity of human life. I see this as the commoditization of humanity -- turning living human beings into modes of production, and I find that patently offensive.

Originally posted by benrl
So would you prefer that childless couples remain childless?

As long as people aren't aborting the baby's TO harvest the eggs, Im not seeing the moral quandary, I suppose the childless couple could always adopt instead.

An older fetus, one with developed eggs, not just first trimester I gather, but a baby to me, is being murdered, and another woman longs for a child.......I have a problem with this solution in aiding her in giving birth, rather than her adopting the child they wish to murder.

Not to judge anything, but I disagree with this.

Wouldn't making this an industry encourage the abortion of girl-children, and upset the gender balance on the planet?

I'm all for science helping straight or gay couples to have children.
But get the eggs from a living person, and not someone that was murdered.

I suppose there's an argument that since these eggs exist in abortions (which is a tragedy in itself), why throw them away?

Well, the authorities are burning rhino horns and elephant tusks, and material from species on the brink of extinction.

Some argue this is wrong, but many say creating a legal market will only encourage more harm.

I don't know really, but it seems like this will turn abortion into big business.
That's not necessary.

abortions aside ... these eggs would be 'artificially' suspended while being hormonally altered and then artificially implanted ???

sounds similar to the science Monsanto has already been practicing, doesn't it ??
no thanks, i'll pass.

Originally posted by benrl
So would you prefer that childless couples remain childless?

As long as people aren't aborting the baby's TO harvest the eggs, Im not seeing the moral quandary, I suppose the childless couple could always adopt instead.

It's wasteful and exploitative. Laws can be made for the needy couple to adopt the female baby that would be aborted, instead of being egg pirates. Unless you know, the "needy" couple needs to have a boy.

Imagine the surviving born baby, thinking that his or her grandma killed the mom, but yet he or she was engineered from the wreck. How are they to say their biological mother was a fetus that never was allowed to live? Or are they going to be lied to?

I'd rather have cloned humans than baby-egg piracy. That baby woman-to-be needs to have her say in where her eggs go, instead of having her life hijacked for products of her organs. After all, it's her body.

It's a dehumanizing practice. It's physically possible but it's going on a variety of slavery to do it.

If the eggs of the fetus are developed enough to produce life, then the fetus it's self is developed beyond the stage where abortion could be considered acceptable.

reply to post by adjensen

Dear God that's just too freaky. I didn't even go to the link - just read what you wrote. Oh man... That's over the top. Dang - I'm going to have horror story scenarios going through my head all day now!

Scientifically? Sure, it would work. But who knows - I mean - to me? If you use the unborn babies eggs?

You could grow ZOMBIES that way!!!

*RUN AND HIDE*

peace

reply to post by Unity_99

An older fetus, one with developed eggs, not just first trimester I gather, but a baby to me, is being murdered

This is the only kind of argument in this thread that makes sense. The article states that the foetus is 16 weeks, I think that is on the edge of being acceptable, but still is.

Other than that, whats the ethical issue again? Killing the foetus is fine, but harvesting the eggs somehow isnt, even tough nobody suffers because of it?

This is not unethical and yes, we should harvest the eggs if it helps someone. Being "icky" has nothing to do with ethics, period!

reply to post by iwontrun


One thing is moral issues other is ethics, they are not the same. I see no issue in harvesting material from deceased if allowed by self or failing that by surviving family members (if not in opposition of the deceased express will).

An abortion may signify many things but lets consider the section that people are mostly opposed the intentional interruption of an unplanned pregnancy. Within some limitations (the growth of central nervous system) of the fetus there shouldn't be any legal impediment but legislation should also curb within reason abuses of the freedom and work toward the specific society demographic needs the availability and monetary support of family planing, contraceptives and the funding medical interventions to interrupt a pregnancy.

What is ethically questionable is to permit abortions but not provide funding to prevention of unwanted pregnancies or promote death to the commercial harvesting of material.

I saw a documentary sometime ago about the commercialization of tissues from cadavers in the US and that did sicken me. There shouldn't be any profit in death...

No we shouldn't, this is ridiculous, the reason I don't support abortion (although I am pro-choice) is because of ethical nonsense like this. I have seen multiple news articles about how it is ethically okay to kill babies after they are born, and if you ask me - that is a pretty nasty precedent.

The next step would be for it to be legal to kill anyone who is not able to fend for themselves, as of course, this is the definition of being a human and having the right to live.

Which it isn't. Ethical violations are going to be everywhere in these next few decades. I'm a freaking humanist, I at least believe in the sanctity of human life. Jesus Christ.

The next step, which I'm sorry to have to tell you about, is making it ethically okay to kill anyone who is not able to provide a service for chosen society.

Once again, I'm sorry to have to tell you about all of this. Good luck out there. Let's hope it is only a phase.

P.S. I will allow ethics to violate the sanctity of human life a little bit, but I don't want to have to see what I think I'm going to have to see in the future. Once ethics mutates into "what is best for society" that's kind of... creepy.

Unfortunately, this has often been predicted by philosophers as what happens once religion is taken out of the picture and we are left with science. We saw this happen once during the 1930's era that was heavily inspired by Darwin. Let's hope we don't see it again.

Science and religion / spirituality are meant to balance each other out. Unfortunately, religion has been hijacked by crazies and no one is left to watch out for humanity.

And don't expect scientists to watch out for humanity - they don't even believe in souls, altruism or free will. To them, a corpse might as well be a living human. Except with less utility!

When will we learn that we can't play god.

reply to post by Panic2k11

i agree it is pretty sickening how a fetus' eggs can be looked at as a commodity. The other part was kind of in reference to my wifes job. She works for a company here in the US trying to mainstream kids with behavior problems. The company charges Medicare $80 hour, she works 8 to 4. Now she has four other therapists there with her thats 400 per hour! I think it ridiculous.
She comes home with bite marks and bruises, This money could be better spent on educating kids to the ways of the world.

I guess once the foetal mass is expelled, it's a question of who does it belong to?
Does it still belong to the woman, despite not having the child? If it were me, I don't think I could feel comfortable knowing that I could be a grandmother to the child of my technically unborn/dead daughter.
I think, as with anything, permission should be sought first from the women having the abortion, as the cells and DNA are hers.

Perhaps a childless couple should adopt the child, as opposed to stealing their eggs post abortion. This is horrible, I can't believe it has gotten to this point.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
What is terrible about it? We already use stem cells from aborted fetuses. I mean, they're dead. It's not going to hurt them. It's the same as being a doner. Is that disgusting, too?

It is absolutely NOT the same as being a donor. The donor CHOSE to donate their organs or whatever while fully conscious and ALIVE. You people are ghouls of the highest order. not only do you think it ok to murder babies, now you would plunder their tiny bodies. You are worse than rapists, worse than pedophiles. I can only hope that God has a special place in hell for people who think this is acceptable. I am sorry to say this BH, but you supporting this truly disgusts me.

Societies that have fallen, have not been conquered but have destroyed themselves. This ghoulish harvesting of eggs from aborted female fetuses is revolting in its premise.

A female human, who never took a breath, never had a chance at living, becomes the biological matriarch of future generations so some who "wants" a child can have a child but the child who was aborted wasn't wanted. Why? Her only value was her eggs. Are we still human?