Suffering is needless
Robert Linwins - East Moline, Ill.

It saddened me to read the letter by USA TODAY reader Paul Kokoski, who commended President Bush for his opposition to embryonic stem cell research ("In stem cell debate, good end can't justify 'evil means,' " Letters, June 28).

If Kokoski or President Bush could spend just one day watching a loved one suffer from the horrors of Alzheimer's disease or brittle diabetes, I bet they would beg for embryonic stem cell research.

My family is in the middle of dealing with the long goodbye of both diseases, which are afflicting my sweet, gentle wife.

We are watching as she loses her sense of self and no longer can recognize us or her grandchildren. We are helpless as we see her slipping away from us.

No words can accurately describe the horrific symptoms that accompany Alzheimer's, diabetes, Lou Gehrig's disease and muscular dystrophy, to mention a few. If the world's most eminent scientists believe that embryonic stem cell research holds some hope for eradicating some of humanity's worst scourges, then we should encourage them to do this critical research.

The most humane decision of Bush's presidency would have been to approve expanded funding of embryonic stem cell research.


http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/...ing-is-ne.html