Against Conclusion

Good Afternoon ladies and gentleman members of the jury and public in general. My name's Francisca Mansilla, and I am the summary speaker in the Opposition team.

Many questions, no answers, and a lot of conjecture are raised by the problem of Embryonic Stem Cells. At this point in our argument we will hear how many lives the study of Embryonic Stem Cells can save because of their potential – but the key word is “potential,” there is no proof other than what theory can offer.

However, if we are expected to trust in the conjecture, or theory, of an unproven, unethical science – is it not more responsible to consider the knowledge we currently have of the value of human life, and of the science that already exists with ASC which do not maintain the same controversy? Adult Stem Cell research says we can have a proven science as well as maintain our value of human life.

However, with ESC, are we going to trust the value of conjecture over the value we know exists in human life? What if Einstein was a sacrificed embryo? Or Ghandi? Or Pablo Neruda? How many Neruda’s will be sacrificed before we understand the impact of the death we are creating? Human life starts at the conception – and the creation of an embryo is past conception. Is scientific research, and knowledge, worth more than the opportunity for a child to live? Is life really that cheap?

• Or what about genetic manipulation? Are children not good enough? With all the problems children face today, now we get to tell them they were not good enough for us under normal conditions, so we had them genetically manipulated with the dead fetus of another human. What happens to the psyche of a population under the shadow of genetic perfection – when it becomes normal to change the course of nature in order to maintain our social perception of perfection?

None of these problems are present with Adult Stem Cells. There is no ethical dilemma – human life maintains its value and science is used to sustain life rather than trade life. Adult Stem Cells are currently available, and they offer a feasible alternative to the “potential” of Embryonic Stem Cells. We have heard from much of the science that Adult Stem Cells offer. One example is excellent scientific proof for curing disease, and for repairing damaged tissue. There are no rejection problems, because your tissue and cells are grown by cells harvested from your own body.

So Let’s avoid the problems that come with marketing poor women in poor countries for their eggs, and embryos. Let’s avoid the genetic “baby factories” that construct “perfect” children. Let’s avoid the publicly funded and supported devaluing of human life. We can avoid all these problems, and still have the same remarkable benefits from Adult Stem Cells. It is unnecessary, and untrue to assume that the currently legal, and funded, Adult Stem Cell programs throughout the world offer less potential than Embryonic Stem Cells. Adult Stem Cells are medically safer, much cheaper to maintain, and ethically impenetrable.