This is an interesting article and I'm not sure what position to take:
This time, the firm line drawn by the pro-life forces--life begins at conception--begins to soften. The simple battle cry--a fertilized egg is a human being--begins to develop a counterpoint. The solid ground under the absolutists is beginning to shake.

This civil strife is over embryonic stem cells. These cells, harvested from 5-day-old fertilized eggs, may offer the best hope--better than adult stem cells--for curing some pretty awful diseases from Alzheimer's to Parkinson's to juvenile diabetes. So the Bush administration must decide whether the government will fund research that uses stem cells from fertility clinic embryos.
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To condemn stem cell research as an ``industry of death,'' you must begin by opposing in vitro fertilization. The Catholic Church, consistent if nothing else, opposes the creation as well as the destruction of a fertilized egg outside of the womb.
But most Americans regard IVF as a blessing for many couples and see fertility clinics as places where life begins. So, as bioethicist Bonnie Steinbock of the University at Albany says, the political wrangling must leave these people scratching their heads.

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