Gathering stem cells from amniotic fluid is not a better option than using embryos.

Here's the title of the story:

Scientists See Potential In Amniotic Stem Cells
They Are Highly Versatile And Readily Available The article is on the Washington Post website.

Readily available? Amnio is an invasive medical procedure that most pregnant women do not need. Unless the cells taken are for use in corecting birth defects of that child, the risk of aborting or causing birth defects because of amnio is too high.

A quote from the article:

"This is wonderful news," said Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which opposes research that depends on embryo destruction. "It doesn't require harming anyone or destroying life at any stage."

Someone needs to help Mr. Doerflinger understand that when a fetus spontaneously aborts, that means it dies. To give the man the benefit of the doubt, he is most likely unaware of the risks of amnio. Because if her were, I'm sure he would think the death of one gestating baby out of 300 is too high a risk.

The increased risk of spontaneous abortion caused by amniocentisis is covered here at the March of Dimes website.

Here's a snip from the article:

A clip from the article:

"Is amniocentesis safe? Millions of women have had prenatal diagnosis by amniocentesis. In 1976, after careful study, the National Institutes of Health reported that it found midtrimester amniocentesis for prenatal diagnosis to be safe.

However, amniocentesis does pose a slight risk of miscarriage. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of miscarriage is between one in 400 and one in 200 procedures.

The procedure also carries an extremely low risk of uterine infection (less than one in 1,000), which can cause miscarriage. Studies suggest that the risk of miscarriage following first-trimester amniocentesis may be three times higher than the risk after second-trimester amniocentesis.
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Here are some websites to visit to learn more about stem cells:
Stem Cell Basics

A snip:

"Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell."

Stem Cell Articles

A snip:

"STEM CELLS enables the scientific community to read the latest advances at the earliest possible time. STEM CELLS publishes in manuscript format peer-reviewed and accepted papers that subsequently will be edited and published in the regular print and online version of STEM CELLS. STEM CELLS Open Access gives authors the opportunity of making their papers available online without subscription. The additional costs of this open access are borne in part by the authors. Open Access articles are denoted with a blue background."

New York Times Collection of Stem Cell Articles

A free collection of articles about stem cells published in The New York Times.