Despite what the religious right will tell about how "life starts at conception" and, since embryonic stem cell research requires killing embryos, embryonic stem cell research is therefore morally wrong and kills human beings. However, reality is without any question or doubt completely different. In fact,
there is absolutely no moral ambiguity over embryonic stem cell research whatsoever. Period. Don't believe it? Then I'll explain exactly why it is so on the other side.
To put this in perspective, first consider someone who is an organ donor. That is, when that person dies he or she will give away his or her organs to other people. To most of us this is a "good thing," and means that that person is a kind and unselfish person, letting his or her death to be used to save others. However, there is a interesting catch: In order for organ donating to work at all the organs in question must still be alive. This is an absolutely unescapable conclusion for otherwise organ donation would never work. But that means part if not most of the original organ donor must still be alive when the organs are removed. So that leads to a rather interesting but ultimately obvious question: What exactly defines a human being as "alive" and "dead?"
The answer is clear. Medically, if a person heart stops beating then that person is dead. Of course that person can still be revived so often we define brain death as true death. This method of defining what is death is widely accept by the medical community and the rest of our world as well. No one really question this method of define life and death. Once this form of death happens, then the person in question is dead and organ donation procedes with little objection.
Now back to embryonic stem cells. Are then human beings? Have there hearts stop beating? Wait, they don't have a heart! What about brain death? Oops, they don't have a brain either! Not even a single neuron. Now we are at the bottom of the issue. Since embryos at this stage have absolutely no brains or heart tissue then they simply cannot be "human life." If they were, then so is an organ donor after he or she "dies" because practically every part of that person can still be alive except for the brain itself.
From this one can conclude that there is no moral ambiguity or any moral issue at all with embryonic stem cell research barring a definition of human life that even exceeds our own definition of human life. This is the unescapable conclusion that is taken from organ donation in relation to embryonic stem cell research. Going even further, it can be said that organ donation and embryonic stem cell research are in many ways practically the same thing: Donation of the living cells of someone who is no long human life or never were for the greater good of society and to save lives. Hence, if you do not object to organ donation then there you have no moral case against embryonic stem cell research.
So the next time someone tells the moral issue of embryonic stem cell research, given that guy the organ donor example, and point it out to him that he is dead wrong.