Seanad debates
Wednesday, 19 November 2003
Stem Cell Research: Statements.
I compliment Senator Henry with whom I do not always see eye to eye. She made a remarkably important speech this afternoon in which she calmly, clearly and scientifically demonstrated the hollowness behind many of the statements which have been made on this issue. Senator Henry rebutted the contention that it is easy to harvest adult stem cells when she demonstrated clearly the difficulty involved, particularly when it comes to the deep areas of the brain. I thought we had got beyond the kind of nonsense we heard during this debate. Despite our obsession with the rights of the embryo, we have not signed the Orviedo convention. Why did Members fail to clamour about that point? The convention is concerned with the real issues of cloning and the production of embryos specifically and only for research purposes. I am against such practices as that is the ethical stance to adopt.
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