Washington, D.C. (14 July 2008) – Stem cell tourism is the new million-dollar international trend of selling miracle cures made from aborted babies.
Parents are spending up to $75,000 to travel to China and other countries to seek unproven and untested cures for their children's so-far incurable conditions, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer in a July 13 exposé.
"This is just another example of the twisted mentality that embryonic stem cell advocates use to unscrupulously pit parents desperate to help their children against the countless babies murdered by abortion," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "Those aborted children's lives were stolen only to be harvested for their parts and cells. It's cannibalism."
The Inquirer reports dozens of companies around the world are selling the promise of regenerative stem cell treatments over the internet. Families will travel thousands of miles to get to clinics like Beike Biotech, which has supposedly treated 3,000 Chinese and foreign patients at clinics in China.
Short of patient testimonials, the treatments, likened to "snake oil" sales, have produced no scientific evidence or studies demonstrating that they're actually effective.
"There is a risk that patients who are desperate will misunderstand the amount of progress," Harvard University Professor George Daley, associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston, told the Inquirer. "It is fertile ground for exploitation."
Brown agrees.
"This unbelievable and sad phenomenon naturally stems from the mainstream medical community's deliberate attempt to mislead Americans," she said. "The truth is embryonic stem cell technology has been tested and found a failure. These parents are acting on misleading hype, which costs thousands of unborn babies their lives and dignity."
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
New Scientist: New Task Force to Tackle Stem Cell Tourism (13 June 2008)
Life Issues Institute: Stem Cells: Adult and Embryonic