May 5, 1999
First study done
using fetuses for Parkinson's
___WASHINGTON (BP)--The first government-funded study using tissue from aborted babies in treating Parkinson's disease was effective in some patients, but such results do not make the procedure ethical, a Southern Baptist bioethics specialist said.
___The research showed fetal-tissue transplants are moderately effective in treating Parkinson's disease in younger patients but may not prove curative for those 60 years of age and older, according to the Washington Post. In the study, cells from the midbrains of four unborn babies were transplanted in the brain of each of 20 patients.
___Anti-abortion advocates have criticized the treatment's reliance on aborted babies.
___"We would be very happy if there were ethically appropriate treatments for Parkinson's disease, but the first question to ask of any therapy is not whether it is effective, but whether it is ethical," said Ben Mitchell, assistant professor of Christian ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "Harvesting organs from individuals against their will would still result in effective transplants, but no one would argue that such an act would be ethical. Similarly, any potential Parkinson's treatment must use only ethical means."
___The solution, Mitchell suggested, is for Congress to establish tissue banks to store tissues from "ethically acceptable sources."Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!