Sunday, February 18, 2007

Women to be Paid to Donate Eggs

They said it was "ridiculous" to speculate about people farming human eggs for scientific research, but now we have it.

Women will be paid to donate their eggs for scientific research in a landmark decision that will prompt a fierce backlash from leading figures in the medical world.
The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the government regulator of this highly sensitive area, is expected to approve the policy when it meets on Wednesday. At present, clinics are not allowed to accept eggs donated for scientific research unless they are a byproduct of either IVF treatment or sterilisation. Campaigners for change say that this has led to a chronic shortage of eggs for scientific use.

The HFEA's influential Ethics and Law Committee has already privately recommended the controversial switch, and the authority is expected to follow this recommendation. The committee based its opinion on a 64-page report, seen by The Observer, summarising the arguments. 'The potential scientific gains outweigh the objections,' said one source closely involved in the decision.
The authority will argue that allowing women to donate eggs more generally for scientific use may help stem cell researchers to find cures for heart problems, infertility, diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Ah, yes, the old "ESC might help find cures for Alzheimer's" canard. Leave out the fact they haven't found one single use for ESC, but that's just a trivial detail to the monsters that want this stuff.

I wonder how the feminists view enticing women to harvest eggs for this research? Is that just another "choice" for women to make? And considering the procedure used is considered "possibly dangerous" by doctors, is this a "choice" we should be condoning?