Bishop Pates has a terrific opinion piece in today’s Des Moines Register on embryonic stem cell research.  It is intelligent and concise.

As the stem cell controversy continues, the Register editorial board implores the use of reason when considering the “promise” of stem cell research (“Embryonic Stem Cells Promise Much,” Sept. 16). The Catholic Church assiduously supports adult stem cell research and with the exercise of reason proclaims the human embryo is human life with potential and not a potential human life. Human life is sacred from the very beginning because it has been “created in the image of God.” Moreover, the board quite arbitrarily and without philosophical or biological illustration dismisses personhood for the individual human being whose life begins at fertilization. Read more here.

Unfortunately, many of the comments are not intelligent or even reasonable. The Des Moines Register’s seems to attract the angriest, and often most vulgar, commentators  on the web. They really need to hire a moderator.