Progress Marches On
December 31, 2006 · By Aaron Unruh
Strip off the Michael J. Fox mask and see what kind of evil is leering back at you:
The Drudge Report recently highlighted a shocking story from the BBC that centered on “disturbing video footage” of “dismembered tiny bodies.” “Healthy new-born babies” in the Ukraine, “the self-styled stem cell capital of the world,” have allegedly been killed “to feed a flourishing international trade in stem cells.”
Apparently this isn’t an isolated problem. The Council of Europe “describes a general culture of trafficking of children snatched at birth, and a wall of silence from hospital staff upwards over their fate.” Imagine the horror of young mothers who “gave birth to healthy babies, only to have them taken by maternity staff.” What happened to these newborns was anybody’s guess, but recent footage obtained by the BBC may provide insight into their fate: “The pictures show organs, including brains, have been stripped–and some bodies dismembered.”


I’d be cautious about claiming that this is purely about stem cell research.
According to The Scotsman, this may be part of an organ harvesting program operating in the Ukraine.
Your insinuation that embryonic stem cell research is somehow related to this is flawed. Embryonic Stem Cells are derived from a blastocyst, not a fully realized baby.
That doesn’t redeem what’s going on in the Ukraine, but I’d be cautious about what to infer from the accusations now aimed at the Ukraine.
Good points Grog. Tarring all stem cell research with what is going on in the Ukranine is a tad facile.