(no subject)
Heard on the radio (The BBC) today about something new being done with stem cells. Apparently they've managed to make fetal stem cells become immature germ cells (i.e. eggs and sperm). The technology is theoretically being developed to help couples who are drastically infertile have children that are (as the radio put it) "genetically similar" to themselves. If this can be applied to adult stem cells, this opens up a number of interesting questions. First off, I see it being enthusiastically embraced by the GLB rights folks. Especially if it turns out that scientists can generate sperm from female stem cells, and ova from male stem cells. This would uncork the major block that most of the anti-Gay folks utilize, the fact that they cannot have kids. I'm sure the rhetoric will change to "cannot have children unassisted" or some other such line, but that's neither here nor there. Of course gay males will still need a surrogate mother, but ...
I'm not sure where this leaves the many philosophical and/or ethical questions that are bound up in this issue. The Catholic Church will no doubt continue their current line of logic: that all of this sort of reproductive meddling is immoral, and that all children ought to be conceived through "the marriage act." Easy enough. But what about those establishments (churches and otherwise) that permit things like IVF, Fertility Drugs, etc., etc.? Following a strict logic line, they pretty much have the foundation of their anti-homosexual rhetoric swept out. Then again, logic isn't -perhaps- something one can expect from some of those groups.
Oh, well. It is late and I am tired. I just wanted to see if anyone else had heard of this/had any thoughts on this after reading what I have to say.
I'm not sure where this leaves the many philosophical and/or ethical questions that are bound up in this issue. The Catholic Church will no doubt continue their current line of logic: that all of this sort of reproductive meddling is immoral, and that all children ought to be conceived through "the marriage act." Easy enough. But what about those establishments (churches and otherwise) that permit things like IVF, Fertility Drugs, etc., etc.? Following a strict logic line, they pretty much have the foundation of their anti-homosexual rhetoric swept out. Then again, logic isn't -perhaps- something one can expect from some of those groups.
Oh, well. It is late and I am tired. I just wanted to see if anyone else had heard of this/had any thoughts on this after reading what I have to say.