The most common stem cells that have proven results are embryonic cells.

Although the
embryonic cells have seen the most success from the trials, unfortunately they are receiving the
most criticism from the public. What many do not understand is that there are a multitude of
other stem cells that can still save lives. There are four categories of stem cells; embryonic stem
cells, adult stem cells (known as somatic stem cells), induced pluripotent stem cells, and tissue
specific stem cells. The IPS as stated in the above sentence are produced by inserting a virus that
is stuffed with genes that attack a certain cell. The public have a generalization that all stem cells
are in the category of killing unborn children but such stem cells like IPS are not that way. These
cells have been in multiple studies that have seen a lot of success but do not receive the funding
that is needed to continue the trial into the next phase. The overall criticism about stem cells are
shadowed by what the cells have done, all the public can see is that embryonic cells are killing
kids. What critics do not know is that there are multiple stem cell categories, most of the stem
cells are embryonic but recently researchers have found a breakthrough in the different
categories of stem cells. According to this source, The government should fund stem cell
research for many reasons including the potential it has to saving many lives, some people
believe that stem cell research is done on aborted babies while in truth the stem cells that are
being researched are left over and unused embryos from in vetro fertilization, these embryos
would be thrown away or frozen indefinitely if not used for stem cell research (Debate.org).
This is actually how embryonic stem cells are created, it is not really about using a real live
embryo. The quote above actually mentions that they are not from the living embryos but that
they are from aborted babies which have no possibility of becoming human. According to
another source isolating the adult stem cells from tissues of a patient or a healthy donor does not
require harming or destroying the donor, giving adult stem cells a decided ethical advantage over

embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells also have a proven track record for success at saving lives
and improving health on a daily basis (Prentice). The quote above also reiterates that embryonic
cells are not the only stem cell, and that there are more ethical stem cells that provide the same
cures. These stem cells which are stated above do not kill any of the embryos but are harvested
from adults or other places on the human body. Above I had mentioned that Cardinal Justin
Rigali was praising President Bushs decision to ban federal funding for stem cells, citing the
reason being that we are killing multiple embryos which could possibly turn into humans one
day. What he didnt research was that a majority of the embryonic cells come from aborted
babies and umbilical cords, ultimately meaning that only a minority of embryonic stem cells
actually come from live embryos.
In order to move forward and provide a secure amount of funding for stem cells, we need
to publicly address the criticisms, and reveal some of the successful experiments. For example
stem cells have been used to cure the blind, according to the writer in the guardian, Patients
with a devastating eye disease who had embryonic stem cell therapy to improve their sight have
suffered no major side-effects since they had the treatment, scientists report The diseases have
no effective treatments and are among the leading causes of blindness in adults and children in
the developed world (Ian Kennedy). This quote demonstrates how successful this trial was and
how it was able to cure the fatal disease. In the same paper as above a personal example of how
this treatment actually helped his overall day to day abilities, according to the same author of the
article, One of the patients, a 75-year-old horse rancher from Kansas, was blind in the eye he
had treated. A month after the therapy, his vision had improved by 10 lines and he had taken to
riding horses again. Other patients could use their computers or read a watch, Lanza said (Ian
Kennedy). According to Dr. Lindvall, Many common neurological disorders, such as

Parkinson's disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis, are caused by a loss of neurons and glial
cells More recently, efforts have been extended to stimulating the formation and preventing
the death of neurons and glial cells produced by endogenous stem cells within the adult central
nervous system (nature.com). In the previous sentence researchers have found a new way to
combat this atrocious disease. By applying the medicinal use of stem cells, we are able to attack
the virus in a more focused and effective way. One of the most daunting diseases that have
plagued a lot of America been liver diseases due to extreme alcohol abuse, consuming large
amounts of saturated foods and many other reasons. Liver transplants have been the most
effective way to fix this problem, but the likely hood that two matches occur is very minimal. So
we can use stem cells to repair an abused liver, or we could possible in the future have the ability
to clone a brand new liver. There have been a lot of successful cases with stem cells in the early
years of new medicine, but with more funding I believe we can attain a higher rate of success.
A minority of the American population, think that we should create a law to increase the
funding for stem cell research. In 2009 the current president Barack Obama issued an executive
order that rescinded the letter of former president George W. Bush that limited federal support
of human embryonic stem cells(Bedford). The letter that was written that the current president
is talking about, regarding the reduced amount of funding towards stem cell research. The law
also states that there shall not be any of federal funding used towards researching embryonic and
human cells. Supporters of the federal legislatures think that there is not enough government
assistance in the research of stem cells. This is a feasible solution but certain states will oppose
having a federal law and opt for a state by state law. Some states will be in favor for this bill,
whilst others will not because of the religious reasons. One of the more conservative states
believe that using human cells and fetuses are cruel since they are unborn children. To this day

California, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and Ohio have all amended their laws to allocate
funding for the research of stem cells. States like New Jersey have estimated that the stem cell
research initiative will have total economic benefits in New Jersey of almost $2.2 billion
(Blounstein Rutgers). This solution is the best for both the state and the researchers of stem
cells. The states benefit by providing jobs and funding for the constituents. In turn the states
receive recognition and will generate 115 million dollars of revenue every year based off of
taxes. California is the most recent state to follow in New Jerseys footsteps by investing 3
billion dollars and producing 13000 jobs and 300 million dollars in tax revenue (CIRM). Not
only does it provide jobs for the researchers but it does provide multiple jobs in the construction
industry also a benefit to the state. In order to address this we should make a state by state law, so
it reduces the amount of conflict between states. The money that has been allocated by the
government for stem cell research has to be increased in order to further advance the United
States in the medical field. We are falling behind in the race of stem cells, this money could find
cures that can save enormous amount of people with terminal diseases. In addition to reduced
health care costs, new therapies would allow those people to go back to work, or allow
their caregivers to work again. This increased productivity funnels tax dollars right back
into the state (CIRM). The quote above address the oppositions issues to how expensive
stem cells are and that there is no benefit to investing the money into a mysterious
drug. The additional funding will allow a majority of the individuals who cannot
physically attend the office, to get back into the workforce and provide for their families.
In addition to solutions stated above, most stem companies are generously compensating
the participants for their contribution to research and development.

Most states are trying to catch up in the stem cell race, by amending current laws
to allocate funds based off of restrictions. Some of the states that have a restriction on
embryonic research but have money for the overall study of stem cells. Some states like
Arkansas, Indiana, and Michigan have completely banned the production and destruction
of stem cells. States that are partially in favor of it include Arizona and Missouri. The
stem cell law that was supposed to revoke the dickey amendment was the Stem cell
research enhancement Act. This act would actually allow the allocation of federal funds
for research but unfortunately the president of the United States vetoed the bill. This is
another solution to the funding issue, almost along the same lines as the state by state
allocation of funds. This solution give each state the freedom to address their funding
needs, for example if the state is in favor of stem cell research but not in favor of
embryonic cells, they can create a legislature that will allow funding for those
requirements. Overall this seems to be a really good option in that will cover all the
benefits stated above whilst giving the freedom of each state to create legislatures for
their own constituents.