“Nine of 10 newly conceived babies were sacrificed in an effort to save Molly Nash’s life,” said Father Joseph Howard, director of the American Bioethics Advisory Commission (ABAC). “If that sounds cruel, it’s only because killing is a cruel business.”
Adam Nash is the only remaining living sibling of his six-year-old sister, Molly Nash. Molly has a life-threatening blood disease. Adam’s life began in a test-tube nine months ago through in-vitro fertilization. He, along with several embryonic brothers and sisters, were subjects of genetic screening tests. Adam’s tissue type most closely matched Molly’s. All of his other embryonic brothers and sisters were destroyed. When he was born, stem cells from Adam’s umbilical cord were transplanted into Molly.
Father Howard expressed joy that Molly’s immune system can fight her disease. He expressed joy at the life of her baby brother. However, he expressed grave concern over the media’s portrayal of the event as a portent for “explosive growth” in stem cell research that destroys embryonic human persons. He also expressed concerns that such research would generate increased demand for in-vitro fertilization.
“Adam Nash is very fortunate to be alive,” Father Howard said. “But his embryonic siblings, who were endowed with life, were sacrificed for the sake of an unethical science. Clearly, the road to discovery cannot be ethically paved with embryonic human beings illicitly generated then harvested and finally destroyed. As an ethical alternative, the scientific community has an obligation to develop ways to categorize stem cell types ethically. The price of treating the sick must not be paid by killing innocent human beings.”
