August 30, 2001

What was I doing August 30, 2001. I don't know. I don't remember.

I remember that the President had made an announcement that summer about stem cell research. He decided that federal funds could be used to study human embryos but only on cells that have already been extracted. This meant, as I understood it, that federal funds couldn't be used in research that would involve destroying new embryos. This is supposed to be a compromise. And it doesn't affect private funding. (I just looked all this up, I don't really remember exactly what he said, just that he looked really solemn when he said it.)

I remember a fair amount of coverage about this, it was a big deal I guess. It didn't really interest me. Perhaps I would have cared more if I suffered from some disease a cure for which might be found with this kind of research.

But there were and are a lot of people who did care and there was a lot of talk about why it should or shouldn't matter. What was ethical? What was right? Important stuff I guess.