Following Their Hearts

Fifty Republicans in the House yesterday defied their president to pass a bill that would lift current funding restrictions on destroying human embryos in pursuit of hypothetical but unproven medical cures for diseases such as M.S. and Alzheimers. Lawmakers want researchers to gain access to the 400,000 frozen embryos created by in-vitro fertilization and currently in cold storage.

One Republican renegade is self-described pro-lifer Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., whose mother-in-law had died the night before of Alzheimer's. "I must follow my heart on this and cast a vote in favor," Emerson said later.

That's the problem with this unseemly rush to turn human flesh into raw material for medical experimentation. People are letting their emotions cloud their judgment. They seemingly are willing to kill the human they can't see (the embryo) to help the human they can see (their mother-in-law, for example). Following your heart is fine–as long as this doesn't mean cutting off the heart of someone else.