Adult stem cells do not have any ethical issues. Adult stem cells are harvested from grown people who have decided to donate them, sometimes this is to a loved one whereas others it is for a stranger. The people who have decided to donate them see some side effects, but the procedure is not life risking. In contrast, embryonic stem cells are where all of the ethics issues lay. Many people think embryonic stem cells are unethical since they come from embryos that die after the stem cells are extracted (cirm). Many adults do not agree with the death of these embryos. The embryos do not have an option, they never even had a chance to live because their life was taken away from them. On the other side, people think the benefits of stem cells are more important. The amount of lives stem cells might be able to save with more research is greater than the embryos which have been killed to save them. Stem cells have many advantages and disadvantages, But in the end everyone has the same desire, to save …show more content…
It is an age-old question. The pro-life versus pro-choice debate has been argued for many years now. The stem cell debate is a similar concept, but the biggest difference is in most states a fetus can be aborted until they are 20 weeks old (editors, shape.com)! Whereas, embryonic stem cells come from embryos 3-5 days old. A common misconception with embryonic stem cells is that the child is getting taken away from their mother. This is because embryonic stem cells come from leftover vitro fertilizations so the cells would have gone to waste but instead are gone to help other people. These fertilization centers often have extra frozen cells. Many consider not using these cells is a waste (cirm). An important aspect to note is the difference between a fetus and an embryo. An embryo is an organism from the moment of fertilization to the 8 week mark. Whereas a fetus is from 8 weeks to the moment of birth (O’brien).According to Theresa Ellefson, mother and biology teacher, “ although I think that the pros of embryonic stem cell research outweigh the cons, I am not the mother of the embryo, and if I was it might alter my opinion.” This is a common opinion with mothers because they know how many benefits can come from the cells but they also do not want to volunteer their eggs. Although embryonic stem cells are not directly taken away from mothers, they are still sensitive with giving up their