In local Arizona stem cell news, this afternoon I sat in on a meeting of a local Arizona coalition of advocacy groups. I gave a brief summary of embryonic stem cell research and upcoming legislation in our U.S. Congress. (I was speaking in favor....)

One of the attendees said he had thought that “they” just went into the woman’s womb and took out embryos for use in research. He was shocked and happy to learn about the 400,000 excess IVF embryos (in the U.S.) that would otherwise be discarded (I had to explain IVF to him, too) It changed his mind on the issue of embryonic stem cell research.

More shockingly for me, my husband found this man’s statement understandable, and told me there is no difference morally (to him) between using excess IVF embryos or going in a woman’s body and simply taking them to use for research.

and so it goes...