Patricia Heaton

[CrankyAsAnOldMan]

@crowmanyclouds

From the OP, From Wikipedia

From Amendment 2It’s not a bill, it’s an amendment to the Missouri state constitution, it’s about cloning and stem cell research, not fertility clinics.

CMC fnord!

That’s what I thought the real issue was. So what in the heck is Heaton talking about? Or is was her comment just a flashy (but irrelevant) sound bite?

[Aholibah]

@CrankyAsAnOldMan

So what in the heck is Heaton talking about? Or is was her comment just a flashy (but irrelevant) sound bite?

Try as I might, I can see absolutely no way to read Amendment 2 to get out of it what Heaton says is there. And believe me, I’ve tried. Here’s the best I can do. If you combine this:

(2) No human blastocyst may be produced by fertilization solely for the purpose of stem cell research.

with this;

(4) No person may, for valuable consideration, purchase or sell human blastocysts or eggs for stem cell research or stem cell therapies and cures.

Perhaps you can magically come up with the argument that as long as a person is providing eggs to a fertility clinic for FERTILIZATION for the purpose of IMPLANTATION/REPRODUCTION that person is not covered by this amendment and is therefore (by omission) constitutionally entitled to receive compensation for the donated eggs.

Seems to me that if you don’t by that (and I don’t), Heaton’s statement actually bears absolutely no discerrnible relationship to reality whatsoever.

[crowmanyclouds]

Here’s the language they’re twisting into pretzels,

6. As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

17. “Valuable consideration” means financial gain or advantage, but does not include reimbursement for reasonable costs incurred in connection with the removal, processing, disposal, preservation, quality control, storage, transfer, or donation of human eggs, sperm, or blastocysts, including lost wages of the donor. Valuable consideration also does not include the consideration paid to a donor of human eggs or sperm by a fertilization clinic or sperm bank, as well as any other consideration expressly allowed by federal law.

So, in theory, you could donate eggs/blastocysts to stem cell researchers that a fertilization clinic paid you for.

Since you can’t get federal funding for research unless your using cell lines that were created before 9:00 P.M. EDT on August 9, 2001 [sup]NIH[/sup], I’ve got to wonder how much of a market there is for eggs/blastocysts for stem cell research.

Meanwhile there’s almost half a million frozen eggs/blastocysts that nobody wants or knows what to do with.

CMC fnord!

[Boyo_Jim]

I would argue that this isn’t at all about “men vs women” or “eggs vs sperm”. This is about an exploding growth industry – human tissue providers. As medicine learns more and more about how to stich us back together in better shape than ever, the demand for replacement parts is growing way beyond the supply.

And a private industry is emerging because of it. Many people, me included, have reservations about private sales of body parts with the potential for developing, in a worst case scenario, rich folks buying poor folks for spare parts. Patricia Heaton, IMO, is making a “slippery slope” arguement.

OTOH, there are a lot of suffering people who could be helped if a well-regulated privatized market lead to a larger tissue supply.

Really wish I could trust the government to regulate anything well…