Stem cell research, while controversial, has a strong outlook to save over 900,000 people in the United States alone. For this reason, the government should continue funding and researching stem cells so that we may be able to benefit from them one day. During the George W. Bush presidency, an executive order was signed in 2001 banning the use of government funding for embryonic research, but still allowed for state and private funding to be used. This order was reversed under the Barack Obama administration in 2009. During Donald Trump’s presidency, the contract used to do research at the National Health Institute has been cancelled. To elaborate on the stem cell research feud, it must first be understood what stem cells are. Stem cells are used as a form of personalized medicine; they are regenerate parts of the body in people suffering from a variety of illnesses. Some of the illnesses that can potentially be cured by stem cells are spinal cord injury, stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinsons, diabetes, heart disease, and injured or diseased organs; however, it is theorized that stem cells could help many more ailments with continued research. There are three categories of stem cells: tissue specific, pluripotent, and induced pluripotent. Tissue specific stem cells are from adults. They are different from the other types of stem cells because they are specialized, meaning they are already made for one specific organ and are made to replace dying cells in said organ. Pluripotent cells, or embryonic cells, are made from leftover embryos that are donated from patients in fertility clinics. However, unlike tissue cells, these can be grown into any tissue in the body. Induced pluripotent cells are regular specialized tissue cells that scientists alter into pluripotent cells so they can change into different specialized cells.

Stem cell research has been involved in a lot of politics because some of the stem cells are derived from human fetuses, which brings to question if embryonic stem cell research is considered murder or not. The answer to that question depends on when one believes a life begins. As far as ethics are concerned, the problem most people face is seeing whether one potential life has more worth than the lives of numerous other people it can help save. Some people believe the ethical dilemma regarding stem cell research are so great that they wish to make the research a criminal offense not only for the practitioner, but for the patient as well. This was introduced in bills presented in Missouri legislature that sought to heavily fine and even imprison such practitioners and patients. However, in a response to people whom do not support stem cell research and suggested its criminalization, Ambassador John Danforth elaborates “The proposal to criminalize cell regeneration research calls for a choice between two understandings of human life. On the one hand, we have the millions of people who suffer from ALS, Alzheimer’s, juvenile diabetes, Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries, and cancer—and the loved ones who care for them and suffer by their sides. On the other hand, we have tiny bundles of unfertilized cells existing in Petri dishes. Supporters of the legislation (to criminalize stem cell research) should explain to the afflicted and their loved one's why they care more about those cell bundles than they do about the people.” Ambassador John Danforth argues that the lives of the people that could be saved by stem cell research far outweighs the ethical toll required to obtain the cells. The people that are already living and suffering from a variety of ailments are important factors to consider as well. How could one possibly explain they would rather save a bundle of cells rather than several fully grown people who were unfortunate enough to contract these injuries or diseases?

The federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research because not only are the possibilities to come from this research exemplary, but the ability to change the fundamentals of treatments and make them more personalized would be a phenomenal leap into a new age of medicine and medical technologies. By conducting more research, as a country we have a new possibility to save the 900,000 lives lost annually to countless ailments in the United States alone. So, if you could save nearly a million people, would you?