New York stem cell committee approves payments for eggs
Cross-posted from the Great Beyond
The New York Empire State Stem Cell Board (ESSCB) has approved the use of state funds to compensate women who donate eggs for embryonic stem cell research.
The board, which implements New York’s $600 million stem cell research initiative, reached the decision on 11 June. Board members noted that taxpayer funds are already used to compensate some egg donors in state-subsidized in vitro fertilization programs. They also emphasized that researchers in other states that do not allow payment for eggs – including Massachusetts and California -- have largely failed to recruit donors.
Nevertheless, the decision sparked a predictable outcry from activists. The New York State Catholic Conference called it “a grossly unethical, dangerous and exploitative move that treats women’s body parts as commodities,” (Catholic Courier) and Thomas Berg, a Catholic priest and a member of the ESSCB’s ethics committee, criticized the board for not allowing public comment on the issue (Christian News Wire).
By Heidi LedfordSee also Nature news: Egg shortage hits race to clone human stem cells
Comments
Nice to see New York actually use logic in their decision making process. Either eliminate compensation for egg donors all together (namely for reproductive purposes), or allow compensation for scientific research. The prevalent double standards in the other 2 mentioned states are simply ridiculous.
Posted by: Jim | June 21, 2009 08:43 PM
A Catholic priest has no any authority to speak about women's issues. His concerns bear no relation to the exploitation of women or commodification of women’s reproductive labour. The Catholic Church objects to the creation and destruction of human embryos regardless of their source. Whether women are paid to donate their eggs or embryos bears no relevance to this position.
The big issue that is raised when bodies such as the ESSCB decide to appropriate funds to pay women for their eggs or embryos is the position it places US research in relation to other parts of the world. While paying women to donate their eggs is entirely consistent with broader US policy approaches, which permit financial incentives for human tissue and organ donation, it falls short of ethical standards that are maintained in other countries such as Australia where payment for any kind of human tissues/organs is generally prohibited. Such prohibitions are in place to protect poor and vulnerable populations from being exploited.
This issue is important because of imperatives that have recently been placed on maintaining consistency in the ethical norms that guide stem cell research internationally. Whether the rest of world should relax its restrictions on the sale of human tissues or discussion should focus on the deeply problematic US policy on human organ and tissue transfer is a matter in need of wider and generous public deliberation. Such a conversation must be broadened to include more diverse voices and not just the scientists and commercial operatives who have may have vested interests in the outcomes of the discussion and the powerful religious elite who dominate these debates. Including those people who actually donate their organs, eggs and embryos would be a fine start.
Posted by: Tamra Lysaght | June 22, 2009 05:19 AM