Saturday, February 17, 2007

Update on Ukrainian infants killed to harvest stem cells

A French publication recently published an update on the scandal involving healthy Ukrainian babies being murdered to harvest their stem cells.

... In the [sic] Ukraine, investigators are exploring the possibility that healthy infants and preborns were killed for stem-cell experimentation. It is speculated that the babies’ organs were extracted after allegedly being stolen from mothers by staff at Maternity Hospital Number Six in the eastern city of Kharkov [sic].

... Pictures from the autopsies reveal tiny dismembered bodies with missing organs and brains. Since dismemberment of bodies is not a standard post-mortem practice, it is likely the babies were harvested for the high amounts of stem cells in their brains and bone marrow.
... Due to the increasing worldwide demand for stem cells, it is possible healthy newborns are now being used to feed this demand. These healthy babies mysteriously "die" following a successful birth.

... Bioethicist Wesley Smith believes the demand for hundreds of millions of eggs and stem cells will lead to fetal farming. [T]he allegations of the stolen Ukrainian babies come only months after Family News in Focus reported [Ukrainian] women ... were being paid $200 to abort their babies for the acquisition of stem cells. More specifically, according to Smith, the women were paid to get pregnant for the sole purpose of aborting the babies at eight weeks gestation so the stem cells could be used for an anti-aging beauty treatment.


The Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRM) in Barbados uses such a treatment that supposedly improves one’s fitness, sex life, mental capacity, and sleeping patterns. ... The treatment involves injecting clients with stem cells from seven- to ten-week-old aborted babies.

Full article here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is unbelievably troubling.
There has been controversy surrounding stem cell research since the beginning, I always believed it would be used for good and never considered or remember hearing about it being harvested through abortion or murdering babies.
I hope that this issue gets the attention is so desperately needs to stop it from happening though since it has manifested into women being paid to get pregnant to abort at 8 weeks I am afraid maybe not.

Pawlina said...

A sadly accurate conclusion.

Unfortunately, humanity has already slipped too far down that slippery slope to reverse the damage. The best we can hope for is that we will learn from the past.

That, however, is probably just as unlikely... in today's world, cautionary voices are summarily dismissed and marginalized as "reactionary" should they ever even remotely challenge liberal ideology. Just because - or perhaps, precisely because - this example illustrates that those "reactionary" voices were right all along, this travesty will likely not get much media attention.

Michelle said...

Thank you for your blog. It is hard to read stories like this but it is important that we are documenting what is going on in the world.

Pawlina said...

You're welcome, Michelle, and you're right.

Stories like this are devastating to read. They kill your sense of innocence and wonder, and shake your faith in humanity.

But by the same token, we have to remember that (our) ignorance is not always bliss (for unfortunate others).