Every day this question is posed in one form or another. How we answer it will define the 21st century, the "Biotech Century." The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture is here to inform and equip you as we encounter such vital issues as:
What is stem cell research? Should human cloning be pursued? Euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide: desirable ends? Is there a difference between therapy and enhancement? What is transhumanism, and why should we care? Genetic testing: what impact will it have on our lives? Should some human rights extend beyond our species?
The Government and You: The Centers for Disease Control can provide us information about assisted reproductive technology. The Federal Drug Administration can warn us of the risks of using dermal fillers for face lifts. Our law enforcement can use electronic tracking in court. And our government leaders can raise a cry of indignation against a country that forces abortion as a population control. But as individuals, what is our response?
In a remarkable surgery, docotors have been able to use adult stem cells combined with an organ donor's trachea to provide a woman with a new airway/bronchus for her lungs. This is an incredible technique that demonstrates how adult stem cells can be used not only in treating, but also in providing a new organ.
Not feeling well? Cough? Fever? You may wish to find out more by logging on and using a Google search engine for "flu". What happens next? You will be interested to learn . . .
"Google's new public health initiative, Google Flu Trends,
looks at the relative popularity of a slew of flu-related search terms
to determine where in the U.S. flu outbreaks may be occurring."
"Change" has been the buzzword for some time in American politics. In the Tuesday, 4 November, election, a number of changes -- besides the offices of President and Congress -- were made.
Colorado rejected the idea that fertilized eggs are persons. While this is not a change, it is a clarification of what the majority of voters in Colorado think.
Status:Fail (Yes votes: 27.2% - 5:10am MST; 87% of precincts reporting% of precincts reporting)
Topic Areas:
| Civil & Constitutional Law | Health |
Summary:
Amendment 48 proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to: - define the term "person" to "include any human being from the moment of fertilization"; and
- apply this definition of person to the sections of the Colorado
Constitution that protect the natural and essential rights of persons,
allow open access to courts for every person, and ensure that no person
has his or her life, liberty, or property taken away without due
process of law.
Washington State decided that people have a right to choose to die:
State second in nation to allow lethal prescriptions
Washington will become the nation's second
state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal prescriptions to terminally
ill patients after voters gave resounding support to a contentious
end-of-life measure.
With more than 1.3 million votes cast, Initiative 1000 led by about 16 percent, winning all but six counties across the state.
"Its time has come. It's as simple as that," former Gov. Booth
Gardner, who poured $470,000 of his personal fortune into the
pro-initiative campaign, said Tuesday night. "People have the right to
have control over the final days of life."
______________________
Animals in California were given certain rights. While this may be off the radar screen of many, Proposition 2 in California will have far-reaching effects:
Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs
be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand
up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.
Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful
slaughter, research and veterinary purposes.
Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000
and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.
Potential unknown decrease in state and local tax revenues from farm
businesses, possibly in the range of several million dollars annually.
Potential minor local and state enforcement and prosecution costs,
partly offset by increased fine revenue.
Beginning in 2015, state law would prohibit, with certain
exceptions, the confinement on a farm of pregnant pigs, calves raised
for veal, and egg-laying hens in a manner that does not allow them to
turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.
A NO vote on this measure means:
State law would not contain prohibitions specifically
concerning the confinement of pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal,
and egg-laying hens.
The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture has finished the production of our second video, Who Am I? This video is a poignant exploration of what it means to be a donor-conceived child. Please view our new video on YouTube at
The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture has finished production on a new video addressing human dignity and what it means to be human. It has been posted on You Tube at "Who's Who?" Video For information on obtaining a copy of this visually impacting video, please see our contact information.
Human cloning is the asexual reproduction of human beings, and occurs in this manner: the first requirement is a human egg, procured by no small procedure from a woman whose system has been stimulated with powerful medications to produce oocytes, or eggs. Next, that egg’s nucleus is removed, and the nucleus from a somatic cell (a cell other than sperm or egg) is inserted into the enucleated egg. Then a chemical or electrical stimulus is applied, and the cell begins to divide, forming an embryo. This is somatic cell nuclear transfer, or “cloning.”
Pass:
6,064,475 /
63.2% Yes votes ......
3,524,188 /
36.8% No votes
