NCER 2023 Holiday Greetings

Esteemed NCER Supporter,

When people think of worthy pro-life causes, on the top of the list is 1) faithful sidewalk counseling and prayer, 2) supporting crisis pregnancy centers, 3) caring for the practical needs of pregnant women in crisis, and 4) healing for those who have been traumatized by abortion. But being pro-life is not just about abortion.

People infrequently think of the enormous impact that anti-life practices within medical research and healthcare have. …

The World’s First Synthetic Human Embryo: No need for sperm, eggs, and fertilization

Worldwide, the prevalence of miscarriage is extremely high, yearly reported at 23 million. Of the average 6 million pregnancies in the United States each year, 16% end in miscarriage. The fetus is most vulnerable within the first trimester, with the majority of losses occurring between week 6-8, possibly resulting from genetic or environmental factors. However, little to no research has yet been conducted on miscarriages during this time period due to lack of access. Human …

“Nebraska Physicians are Playing ‘Fast and Loose’ with ‘Dead Donor’ Organ Harvesting Laws”

Approximately 42,000 organ transplantations occurred in the United States last year, the highest amount ever. However, over 100,000 people are on the organ transplant waiting list at any given time. In a bid to close the large gap between donors and those waiting, UNMC in Omaha, NE published a new research protocol specifically for heart donor/transplantation. Normothermic Regional Perfusion for Resuscitation of Hearts from Donation After Circulatory Death (NRP-cDCD) refers to a technique whereby a …

“Doctors have a macabre new way to harvest organs”

Dr. Klessig, anesthesiologist and pain management specialist (respectforhumanlife.com), gives us a refreshingly frank perspective of the of ethics involved in the NRP-cDCD organ transplantation procedure.

Read more here.…

American College of Physicians Statement of Concern

The American College of Physicians, the largest specialty society in the world (Internal Medicine) offers expertise and insight into the definition of both circulatory and brain death. In doing so, they uncover breaches in both logic and ethics as presented in the new NRP-cDCD protocol.  Take the time and read the following article to get a clear perspective.

ACP Statement Link

Update on Illegal and Unethical Research in Gene Editing

With a shock that rippled around the medical research world in 2018, a Chinese researcher unethically and illegally edited the DNA of 3 human embryos, implanted them in their mother’s wombs, who then gave birth. This is referred to as Heritable Human Genome Editing (HHGE) and represents a clear breach of the Belmont Principles of Autonomy (Informed Consent), Beneficence (Benefit outweighs Risk), and Justice (Protection of the Vulnerable). Presentations at the summit included several from …

Ethics Emphasized but not without Controversy

I’m happy to report Bioethics was at the forefront each day at the International Human Genome Editing Symposium. Controversy and disagreement between panelists as well as the audience was frequent, showing the lack of consensus on the ethics of continuing Heritable Human Gene Editing. The value of this research was questioned outright, especially in light of other successful editing techniques that don’t risk the health of subjects or their progeny. All previous consensus statements from …

Ethical Treatment Cure for Sickle Cell Disease

Contrary to the last International Human Genome Editing Symposium, the focus was Somatic Human Gene Editing (SHGE), wherein the non-reproductive cells of adults/children were utilized to explore cures for diseases. This approach makes changes in the patient’s DNA without causing those changes to be inherited by future offspring. In gene editing, there is always a possibility of unexpected, off-target mutations occurring, with unknown detrimental outcomes. While the human subject of a clinical trial should have …

Understanding Gain of Function and it’s impact on the Pandemic

In our 2022 year-end report, we briefly discussed an ethical issue directly associated with the recent pandemic, namely Gain of Function (GOF) research. It is vital that we possess understanding of GOF origins and significance.

GOF research had been quietly pursued internationally for decades before it was officially named and given public attention. In 2011, 2 groups of scientists (funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH)) genetically engineered an avian influenza virus (H5N1), making …

Year End Report

Dear NCER Supporter,

The year of 2022 has been dominated with news surrounding ethical issues related to research associated with the pandemic, specifically viral “Gain-of-Function”, and the mRNA vaccine. Bioethicists are engaged in a battle over the morality of mandated vaccinations, whose safety and efficacy are being questioned. This dilemma intersects with ethical inquiries into the laboratory creation of population-threatening viruses for biodefense purposes. Hence, we currently face a credibility crisis in medicine overall.

Rest …