Stem Cell - Creating Life or Death?

When reading the reports of how the federal government plans to help finance stem cell research I am reminded of the following story.

A married woman came to visit her Rabbi.  "I have a question that needs to be answered" she said.  "I washed my sheets with non-kosher detergent and need to know if I can sleep on the sheets."

The usage of non-kosher detergent is no problem according to Jewish law as the laws of kosher relate only to the foods Jews eat.  So the Rabbi realized that there was more to the problem.

"Before I answer your question I need to tell you a story" replied the Rabbi.

"Once, he began, a farmer came to me for repentance.  He said "I stole some horse reins."  I told him that it was not so bad, G‑d forgives.  Then he said  "The reins were connected to a horse."  That's still not so bad, I told him.  After a few moments he continued, "The horse was connected to a wagon, the wagon was filled up with merchandise, so I really did a big bad thing."  I told him to return the horse and wagon and surely G‑d would forgive him."  Then the farmer began to cry and said, "But I can't.  You see there was a small infant in the wagon and not knowing what to do with the infant I killed it and buried it in the forest!" What began as a horse thief turned out to be murder."

After the Rabbi finished relating the story to the woman she fainted.  She recently had an abortion, killing her 5 month old fetus and felt so guilty that she needed to see the Rabbi for counseling in dealing with her actions.  She opened her heart to the Rabbi with a small irrelevant question.  The Rabbi, being a seer, knew what she really needed.  She was seeking to make peace with G‑d.

This story is something of what has been happening with stem cell research.  We start with something small but we may be ending with a monster.  The researchers take an embryo and try to extract a stem cell to create a cell that will replace a genetically missing or muted gene.  So far we don't really know if there is any real method that has worked.  We know that a lot of trials have not worked!  Thousands of embryos have been sacrificed in the name of scientific research.

The embryos need to come from a human source.  Stem cells may come from the umbilical cords of born babies or aborted babies.  Some come from frozen embryos created by in-vitro fertilization.  Embryos created by human, medical and scientific intervention, are now kept as future human beings. There may be hundreds of thousands being kept in freezers.

Then there is the donor program.  This is where one gives a donation, a new kind of donation.  The male gives the sperm and the female the eggs and with modern intervention "pop goes the weasel."  The implant creates embryos and we are on the way to a new age baby. 

Some woman may even now be carrying a brother's sperm or a sister's egg without ever knowing.  The donor program is to be anonymous.  So the creation of bastards should be of concern to the moral population.

One should be aware that if a woman is carrying more than two or three fetuses she will most probably be asked by her doctor if she is willing to perform fetal reduction, this means selecting and picking which fetus will live and which will die.  This procedure too has the theologians arguing.  Is the reduction really needed?  Is a multiple pregnancy so bad that the mother will die if she carries too many fertilized eggs.  If that be the case then the fetus is considered a murderer and must be removed before it murders it's host, the mother.  Are we sure of the outcome?  These are problems being dealt with on a daily basis.

When does life begin has been the oldest question asked by biblical scholars.  Most theologians are very unclear as to the status of the frozen embryos.

New questions are now asked, for example, can a person anticipating radiation or chemotherapy store his semen.  The sperm can be cryobanked, frozen indefinitely for future insemination.  Also, does it make a difference if the male is married or not?  Can a female give her eggs away for a clinical study, etc.?

Almost all Rabbis agree that producing sperm is for the purpose of "be fruitful and multiply."  When sperm is ejaculated in a wasteful fashion it is forbidden.  The Bible calls it Onanism,.   However, where sperm is ejaculated in the context of normal sexual intercourse there is no such ban. As when a married man is having sex with his wife regardless of whether or not she is able to bear children.

When needed, Jewish law allows men to provide sperm for implantation into their own wives.  This can be done using Artificial Insemination with a husband's sperm, AIH, or In-Vitro Fertilization, IVF - joining together the sperm and egg in the laboratory dish.  There are then Gamete IntraFallopian Transfer, GIFT, or Zyote IntraFallopian Transfer, ZIFT.  This is a combination of IVT and GIFT.  In these methods eggs are fertilized and inserted after they start to reproduce.  All these methods need supervision and Rabbinical guidance.

Fertility studies and clinics were originally created to make babies.  The creation of embryos for future stem cells and other medical studies was never considered.   That was until lately.  Now things have changes we are at the next step  - using the baby technology.

There are many ways to look at the new stem cell workings.

In truth in extracting the stem cells, by harvesting them from 4 - 5 day old fertilized human ovum we are really killing the embryo.  On the other hand, leaving the 100,000, plus, embryos frozen that are not being used for reproduction seems to me to be even more wasteful than onanism! 

So where do we stand? Embryonic research is here to stay and is today's reality.  We need to address the question differently.

Is using a stem cell destroying or creating life?  Once this question is truly answered we will have a strong religious platform to debate science, medicine, genomics, and where life is going.

I believe that as we investigate the stem cells dilemma we are encouraging the sperm to move up another notch in creation.  As the sperm fertilizes the egg it will create an embryo, thereby creating many cells and they will be used to create a healthier life or, for that matter, to potentially save a life.  Then the sperm is not being wasted but rather being elevated and the questionable sin of onanism is not happening as there is no waste. Also, I feel using frozen embryos are in the realm of creating and saving life, something permitted so let the harvesting take place.

In summation, neither the sperm, egg, or embryo is wasted.  They all grow in harmony.

However, at the same time, we need to know who gets what stem cells this keeps families protected from questionable incestual pedigrees, something forbidden by Jewish and secular law.

"We must proceed with great care" was the President's pronunciation.

As in the story of the woman questioning the usage of the kosher sheets.  Let's not ask if the sheets can be slept on.  Ask what happens to the creations made on the sheets!