Catholic dioceses across the U.S. and organizations like STOPP International, an affiliate of the American Life League, disagree and have dubbed Komen [that's Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast cancer research fundraising organization - ed.] a menace to women. They’ve also launched a boycott of SGK’s Race for the Cure.It's unclear what the imagined wrong committed by SGK is, but it apparently has something to do with abortion. Apparently, SGK gives money for mammograms to women's health giant Planned Parenthood, an organization which a lot of the less-perceptive pro-lifers mistakenly believe is only about abortions. The boycotters also cite a link (which has since been debunked by pretty much every reputable scientist on the planet) between abortion and breast cancer, which apparently means that everyone who gets breast cancer is a baby-killing slut who has it coming. Also, this site seems to imply that the Diocese of Little Rock thinks SGK supports embryonic stem cell research, though it's unclear how much of SGK's money actually goes to a research avenue that is not really related to breast cancer. As best as I can tell from SGK's site, the research is currently being done on cancer stem cells (which come from tumors).
I seriously don't get it. Why would pro-life organizations care about an organization that fights breast cancer by encouraging early detection and research? This makes absolutely no sense. The abortion issue has nothing to do with SGK's activities. Did someone's wires get crossed somewhere to create some sort of "Susan G. Komen Kills Babies" hysteria? The stem cell criticism might have the most truth behind it, but it's still tenuous - as far as I can tell, the research is only obliquely related to embryonic stem cells and is only a very small part of what SGK actually funds. Fortunately, most people (even most pro-lifers, from what I understand) think this is a bit beyond the pale. But if the hysteria doesn't stop, it could have real consequences for breast cancer research and detection...
2 comments:
Jeff, it is likely you and I will never agree on important material in this contentious debate. And I am not going to try to change your mind on that stuff, but I do want you to have a fuller understanding of our side.
I believe life begins at conception. You apparently do not. (I don't want to put words into your mouth here, but that's the vibe I get.) In order to understand my (and our) side of the debate, you need to understand my (and our) understanding of facts. And the deductive reasoning that follows those facts, as we understand them.
Assume, for the sake of argument, that life begins at conception. That means a fertilized egg, which becomes an embryo, is a unique, living human being. Since an embryo is a uniqe, living human being, the destruction of that embryo is, in actuality, killing a human being. Any scientific research or process that destroys said embryo by definition kills a human.
Again, I said to assume for the sake of argument that life begins at conception. That doesn't mean you accept it as fact, but merely for the sake of argument.
If scientific research or process kills a human, it is always wrong. There is never a good reason to kill a human for research or the furthering of a process. And therein lies the rub.
A couple Head Noises articles are of value here. Since Susan G Komen does ESCR, I cannot support it. But I can support other breast-cancer work. And since ESCR is failed but ASCR is not, and ASCR does not have the moral issues ESCR does, why not push ASCR?
I would also note Susan G Komen was given an award named after Margaret Sanger, a known eugenicist. My own article named Democrat Civil Rights History (mainly a reprinted-with-permission article from Black&Right) shows Margaret Sanger's insipid desires.
Anyway, I hope you understand Planned Parenthood was founded by a racist by the name of Margaret Sanger. I hope you also understand that we believe destroying a single embryo is killing a unique human. And there are many organizations dedicated to defeating breast cancer that does not go into killing humans.
We are not against defeating breast cancer. But we are against killing people to find the cure, thus the issue with Susan G Komen.
Again, I hope you suspended your beliefs to accept for the sake of argument the premise I laid out for our argument. If you did, you will better understand our position. And, again, I'm not trying to change your mind on your firmly-held beliefs; I am merely trying to shed some light on our firmly-held beliefs.
Oh, if you're interested, you can check out "Mary Meets Dolly" which can be found in the side-bar links at my site and Head Noises.
And, Jeff, I came here because you seemed reasonable over on CSPT and I wanted to see what you write.
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