WASHINGTON (BP)–The cells of aborted babies are being treated like a fountain of youth for women at unregulated clinics outside the United States.
Thousands of women have been injected with stem cells from aborted babies with the hope they will look and feel younger and have greater energy and an increased sex drive, according to a British online newspaper.
A report by the Daily Mail found clinics in the Caribbean island countries of Barbados and the Dominican Republic, as well as Moscow, Russia, that use stem cells from babies aborted between six and 12 weeks of gestation for the promised anti-aging treatments. Stem cells are the body’s master cells that can develop into tissues and other cells.
“The results are incredible. You’ll feel and look different after a month because these cells help the body to regenerate itself,” a consultant named Jenny at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Barbados told a Daily Mail reporter. “The effects last for approximately a year before it needs to be ‘topped up.’”
Southern Baptist bioethicist C. Ben Mitchell decried the treatments.
“Barbaric is too kind a word for such a revolting practice,” said Mitchell, an associate professor of bioethics at the Chicago-area Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a consultant to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Sacrificing the unborn on the altar of beauty is detestable and sickening, but it is the logic of the culture of death. Buckle your seat belts; it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
“If this doesn’t rouse global policymakers to stop this madness, then none of us are safe,” Mitchell told Baptist Press. “Someone who would vivisect human embryos to remove wrinkles will do nearly anything.”
The ethics violations and health dangers go beyond the destruction of embryos.
“For a start, [the Barbados clinic] is not regulated by any medical board, and there is no documented evidence or controlled clinical trials to back up their claims,” Stephen Minger, director of stem cell biology at King’s College in London, told the Daily Mail.
“More worryingly, there is no proof that the tissue is obtained from truly elective abortions rather than financially induced ones. Research shows that they openly import [fetuses] from poverty-stricken provinces in Ukraine and Russia, preying on the financially desperate to treat vain Western women.”
Moscow police have found an expanding black market in aborted babies that are smuggled in from Georgia and Ukraine, according to the Daily Mail. Poor women receive $200 each to carry babies for eight to 12 weeks before they are aborted and sold to anti-aging clinics, the newspaper reported.
POLL RESULTS -– A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows about two-thirds of Americans want stricter regulations or a ban on abortion.
The poll showed 66 percent of those questioned expressed the following opinions by categories: 11 percent wanted a total prohibition; 35 percent desired a ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, and 20 percent wanted abortion to be available with more restrictions than are now in place. The survey showed 31 percent thought abortion should be generally available, while 3 percent did not know or refused to answer.
The Pew survey demonstrated a slight, pro-life improvement from a year ago. In July 2005, 63 percent called for more restrictions or a ban, and 35 percent said abortion should be generally available.
The poll also showed a 5 percent drop in the number of Americans who believe having an abortion is morally wrong “in nearly all circumstances.” In the most recent survey, 24 percent said it was wrong in almost all circumstances, as compared to 29 percent a year ago. Those believing abortion is morally wrong “in some circumstances” increased from 41 percent in 2005 to 49 percent this year. In addition, 24 percent said abortion is not a moral issue, a decrease of 2 percent from last year.
The survey of about 2,000 adults was conducted July 6 to 19.
PLAN B -– The pharmaceutical firm behind a “morning-after” pill with abortion-causing properties signaled Aug. 9 it is uncertain if it will accept the federal government’s proposal for sale of the drug over the counter.
The Food and Drug Administration had announced July 31 it was working with Duramed, a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals, toward potential approval of Plan B on a non-prescription basis for women 18 years of age and older. That marked a change from Barr’s previous request for an OK on over-the-counter sale of Plan B to females 16 and older.
Barr Chief Executive Officer Bruce Downey said the increase in minimum age may make it more difficult for teenagers to obtain Plan B quickly. “Access is the main consideration,” Downey said, according to Bloomberg News. “That’s a concern of mine.”
Barr would have to resubmit its request to comply with the FDA’s 18-and-over proposal.
Plan B, as well as another “morning-after” pill known as Preven, is basically a heavier dose of birth control pills. Under the regimen, a woman takes two pills within 72 hours of sexual intercourse and another dose 12 hours later. The “morning-after” pill works to restrict ovulation in a woman. It also can act after conception, causing an abortion by blocking implantation of a tiny embryo in the uterine wall.
Plan B and Preven are now available only with a prescription.
CLINIC GIVES UP LICENSE –- A Hialeah, Fla., abortion clinic has surrendered its license to the state government after police found the body of a dead baby in a biohazard bag at the facility.
The A GYN Diagnostic Center is ineligible to practice medicine in the state, and the city of Hialeah has rescinded its occupational license, The Miami Herald reported.
The closing of the clinic comes amid an investigation into whether a baby was born but allowed to die after a failed abortion July 20. An 18-year-old woman told police she gave birth to a boy at the clinic, according to The Herald. An anonymous phone caller told the police a baby had been born at the clinic, but authorities were unable to find a child when they arrived, according to Channel 4, the CBS affiliate in Miami. Another call prompted the police to return nine days later to the clinic, where they found the body, Channel 4 reported.
An autopsy was performed on the dead child July 29, but the results are still not available, The Herald reported. Charges may be filed, according to the newspaper.
The baby weighed two to three pounds and was about 12 inches long, according to the report. The woman who gave birth was about 23 weeks pregnant, The Herald reported.
Police ordered the clinic closed July 29 while the investigation went on.
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