Steele: Adopt unused clinic embryos

[sabra]

http://www.market-day.net/article_35816/20061029/Steele:-Adopt-unused-clinic-embryos.php

Steele: Adopt unused clinic embryos

<snip>

Some of the sharpest exchanges came on the topic of embryonic stem cell research, which Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin supports and Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele opposes.

...

Sunday, TV host Tim Russert asked Steele why he opposed using federal money for stem cell research that would use unneeded embryos usually thrown away by fertility clinics.

"We have 400,000 (unneeded embryos in storage), I think, across the country," Steele said. "I would pursue options that would allow us to look at adoption of some of those embryos," at least for those which are viable.

"I see that as a life, and I don't think that we should use federal funds to (destroy embryos in stem cell research), and that's the difference to me," he added.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Why not? I got some room in the freezer!

(High hat)

Take my wife. Please....

I just flew in from Cleveland....

[VegasWolf]

56. Just don't put them next to the Caviar, they might accidently be eaten. nt

[AnneD]

59. gives new meaning to

Roe.....V Wade :evilgrin:

[VegasWolf]

64. ROFL!!!! Good one!!!

:toast:

[Hav]

2. .

Are these guys for real? Are they that crazy? Anyway, it was a pretty lame and weak point because they know that they have nothing.
And I don't know enough about how they are used, but are any of these supposed 400k even considered for such a use? I somehow can't imagine that.

[flamingyouth]

3. How about feeding and clothing some post-born humans?

Idiot.

[saigon68]

34. Their attitude is the subhumans are lazy Let them starve

Unless of course they are willing to work for $2.00 an hour.

They would love to turn these embryos into Clone soldiers.

[Faygo Kid]

4. Question: What if gay adoption extends to embryos? What does Steele say then?

Don't you think a petri dish blastocyst deserves a mother AND a father? Where are Gary Larsen and The Far Side when you really need them?

[BattyDem]

5. And what about all those living, breathing children who need families?

Did Steele mention them? :eyes:

Repugs are always more concerned with the welfare of an embryo than the welfare of a child.

[Ilsa]

29. They always conveniently ignore that question.

They harrumpf and look disgusted when youu point out they are only looking for little babies to adopt when there are so many children that need homes.

[JerseygirlCT]

32. Silly. They're already born. He doesn't have to give a * about

them.

[kskiska]

6. You can't be AGAINST embryonic stem cell research

and FOR in-vitro fertilization.

[truthisfreedom]

7. this is "living should starve and the eggs should be adopted" crowd.

wackos.

[beam me up scottie]

8. Funny thing is, they'd rather flush them than let gays adopt them.

Yeah, that's just what we need in this country, 400,000 more kids when we can't feed or take care of the ones who are already here.

[JerseygirlCT]

33. It's crazy. Totally messed up and crazy. nt

[kskiska]

9. I like Chris Matthews' question

as to in the case of a house fire and only one could be taken out, would a person rescue their 3-year-old child or a frozen embryo in a petri dish?

[wordpix]

37. bwahahaha, lol, save the embryo over the 3 yr. old! That's what the fundies would do

[susanna]

73. Tweety SAID that?

Dang, the things I miss these days...

(I stopped watching him months ago, so this is news to me.)

[NVMojo]

10. why doesn't this fucker adopt all the foster kids who can't find permanent

homes in this country? What a fuckwad. I'm so sick of these jerks.

[Thickasabrick]

25. That is my favorite thing to harp on. They don't give a fuck about

kids once they are out of the womb.

[wordpix]

38. I totally agree. In fact these asses want to kill the young people off for their insane wars

[WCGreen]

11. Oh yea.....

Then maybe we can apply for federal child support assitance...

[judaspriestess]

12. Tim Russert should have asked him

are these adoptions going to begin with you?

[sandnsea]

13. Adopt and donate for research

Can I do that? I'll sign up right now.

[Ian David]

14. Madonna's house is full. n/t

[tanyev]

15. All good God-fearing, fundie women should offer their bodies

up as baby vessels. If they start young enough, they could foster a good 10-15 before their baby birthing years are over.

[Crunchy Frog]

21. Alot more than that.

You can go on well past menopause, when the embryos are from donor eggs. If she starts at age 20, she could go on for a good forty years. If she doesn't, then that means that she hates babies.

[kestrel91316]

26. Heck, why stop at 15?

If a woman's childbearing years are, say, from 14 to 44, you could squeeze THIRTY snowflake babies out of her with a little effort and luck.

Ok, now where to find the 10,000 lucky little ladies who will get the honors? I suggest the local fundie megachurch. They can hold lotteries for the "privilege". And if you bow out of the lottery, you get excommunicated.

[proud2BlibKansan]

46. But that would greatly increase their numbers

I say we don't let the fundies breed.

[Ian David]

16. Snowflake Babies: None are alike and all are White.

Credit to Louis Black.

[Ilsa]

30. Not all. We have a test case coming up soon here in Texas.

The mother is African, naturalized, and her ex-husband is white, and they made some embryos, but the marriage fell apart. He wants the embryos destroyed. She wants to have the children. Lots of hypotheticals happening with it.

[Ian David]

47. Those aren't "Snowflake Babies."

Snowflake Babies are unwanted frozen embryos adopted by am unrelated third party.

[Ian David]

17. We should give out frozen embryos for Halloween.

Keep little petri dishes in a thermos with some water and dry ice in it, so you get that nifty CO2 fog coming out.

Give each child a petri dish, with instructions on it telling them to find a womb for the tiny little baby inside before they murder it.

[mac56]

18. Said it before, saying it again.

"We love the babies UNTIL they're born!"

[LynneSin]

52. Don't say "WE" - it's just Republicans

most of us would rather fight for the child after it's born in hopes to give it a chance to live the American Dream (or what's left of it)

[mac56]

65. Sorry, didn't make that very clear.

I hoped the quotes around the statement would signify that it was being said by the Repugs. Hence "they" are the "we" in the quote. (?!?)

Sorry that came out in the wrong way.

[all.of.me]

19. Am I in the right place?

Is this LBN, or did I slip into the Humor Forum? Or perhaps the Comic Book Forum?

My second gut response is that I was relinquished and adopted in the early 50s. I have suffered plenty of identity, self esteem and social problems. I can't IMAGINE how one of Steele's adoptees would grow up feeling!

'I was in a petri dish in a freezer for a long time, then some Republican moron saved me from the trash, allowed another Republican moron to carry me to term then give me away to <God knows who/what>. Then the Republicans completely forgot about me.'

Wow. What an esteem builder. No thanks.

[uppityperson]

20. I just had my menstural period. Another egg gone. Another potential in the trash.

am I going to hell?

[Ilsa]

35. Shame on you. Why didn't you sort through

the mess and save it for later fertilization by some volunteer, to be raised by some reich-leaning, goose-stepping family?

Just kidding. My eggs are pretty much kaput now.

[uppityperson]

50. I know, I am sure someone would want to raise a bunch of babies with Downs syndrome

old eggs and all that. The most difficult part was finding small enough knitting needles to knit tiny enough little caps to keep their little heads warm at night.

[wordpix]

39. Off to jail with you, you've just "killed another baby!"

[HockeyMom]

22. Couples have to Consent

for anything to be done with their frozen embryos. If these couples are consenting to have them used for stem cell research, it is obvious they don't want anymore children. If you don't want anymore children, why would you want to have them implanted in somebody else and then have somebody else raise them? My guess would be that they would probably discard them if they aren't being used for research.

It doesn't make any sense.

[Rose Siding]

23. Is Steele doing debate prep with Alan Keyes?

[KamaAina]

58. Or Sam "Talking Embryo" Brownshirt?

er, Brownback...

[Thickasabrick]

24. What a dumbass. A donor may have real issues with someone

adopting their leftover embryos to raise. I think it should be left up to the donor what should happen with their own embryos whether they opt for destroyed, stem cell research, whatever.

[Spangle]

28. Legal problems

I see that happening.

The embryo implanted into a different 'mom' with a different dad, will not look like the rest of the family. Family medical history would be a 'joke.' Basicly, they are 'adopted' kids. And many adoptied kids want to know who 'made' them. Where they 'came from.' And do they have brothers and/or sisters out there.

However, the Mothers who BIRTHED them, will NOT feel like adopited parents. Will not 'understand' wanting to 'know', etc. The familys either.

When the mad doctor went around using his own sperm to make the embryos used in his practice, he made lots of 'siblings' who may grow to marry each other. Using adopted embryos causes the same conerns.

Adoption now days is pretty risky. Parents come back latter and want their kids back. Fight the adopting parents in court, etc. Being the 'birth' mother will not ensure that the mother gets to keep the child. The child will have 2 mothers, 2 fathers. All ready are cases were embryos have been mistakenly implanted into the wrong womb. Then it's a case of what is best for the child. Parents against parents. who ever is handling the 'stress' of the situation, is the group that more likely wins. Pretty sad.

How does one explain to grown person why they allowed them to be adopited when they were just an embryo?

[Thickasabrick]

41. I had forgotten about the mad doctor making embryos. I wonder

if those kids will ever think about having DNA tests on someone they would want to marry. What a nightmare for them. Is that doctor in prison?

I've never even thought about some of the scenarios you came up with.....I'm sure the idiot proposing this hasn't either.

[joeygirl]

67. I thought it was an interesting idea. I freely admit that I have no

clue if it actually is possible or a realistic option.

As for adoption being risky, usually, it's cases were kids are pulled out of the original home and put into the foster care system, then adopted where there are complications because these kids weren't willfully put up for adoption. Relinquishing a child at birth is a lot different than having your kid taken from you-when you fully intended to parent the child, then finding out that the foster family wants to adopt him or her.

But you are right in that this would be a whole new area for case law. Current adoption laws are very antiquated at best, and barely recognize open or semi-open adoption arrangements. For instance, in my state, you can have a semi-open, but what you agree to isn't enforceable by law. So if the adoptive parents stop sending letters and pictures, then the birth parents have no legal recourse. Adoptions are risky - for both the birth parents and the adoptive parents.

[Ilsa]

27. Can we adopt and then donate them to stem cell research? nt

[wordpix]

40. exactly what I thought when Steele said this--how much to adopt one, lol???

[JerseygirlCT]

31. And how many of those does he intend to incubate personally?

What an ass.

[CatholicEdHead]

36. And the snowflakes come back again

This does go over the top.

[daleo]

42. Perhaps these embryos could be stored with Ted William's frozen head

To be thawed out later, when science has invented the artificial womb and robotic parents.

[depakid]

43. My God these people are sick and twisted

Just when you think you've heard every stupid thing a Republican fundamentalist might say- they come up with some even more inane.

That anyone in Maryland would vote for such an idiot is proof positive of the irreversible decline in this country.

[Placebo]

44. He sure fucking weaseled his way out of that question.

Tim Russert asks him, since his opposition to embryonic stem cell research is that "it destroys life" what should be done about fertilization clinics across Maryland and the nation which routinely discard fertilized embryos not used by couples for invitro, and he says he WON'T tell THEM not to do it, and then says we need to "look into" options for those embryos like adoption.

What a fucking retard.

And he brings his SISTER in to do a commercial response to the ad Michael J. Fox did for Cardin, and accuses Cardin of being the one out of line.

What a giant fucking douche.

Steele is one of those Republicans that I just can't help but despise with a passion.

[antonialee839]

45. Hear that Patricia Heaton and Jesus?

[Vidar]

48. Sperm & eggs are sacred, but people are damned unless rich.

[Vinca]

49. I would say to Steele, put your money where your mouth is.

How many embryos do you and the missus want? How about a six pack . . . or better yet a dozen? These people are truly nuts. One other thing. When Dems discuss this issue they need to say the embryos will be "killed" not "disposed of" if they aren't used for embryonic stem cell research. The embryo lovers appear to have a misty eyed, hearts and flowers vision of little cells floating up to Jesus. Nope, sorry. In with the medical waste and down the crapper.

[LynneSin]

51. How many of them have you adopted Michael Steele

It's so easy to talk about it when I'm guessing you have yet to do it yourself.

Almost sounds like Republicans on War

[noonwitch]

53. Can I get an adoption subsidy to keep them in my freezer?

Just wondering. I can still get pregnant the old fashioned way, so I don't really need to have any embryos implanted in my womb.

[semillama]

54. Steele displays his ignorance of the in vitro fertlization process

Isn't it true that doctors need to implant multiple embryos in order to ensure that at least one actual takes hold and develops? That's one reason you see multiple births with couples who go in for the procedure - more than one embryo develops. But the other embryos do not attach to the uterine wall (Is that correct? typing from memory here, not a doctor, and have a different set of genitals than those in question), and thus perish.

so even trying to "adopt" an embryo would result in the demise of several other embryos.

[MiniMe]

55. If I put one in my freezer, can I take a tax exemption for them?

[Megahurtz]

57. What a Sick, Twisted Fuck-Whack

just when I think I've truely heard it all. :puke:
That's it numbnuts, more kids with no parents,
so are you going to support them all?

Oh my God, seriously please, someone, please boot these fucking freaks out of office! :banghead:

[smtpgirl]

60. Saw MTP and Steele was an ASS

Backpedaling and denying that he said some things 2 years ago.

He said that he could look for adoption of those embryos that were in the fertility clinics, not use them for stem cell research!!!

What the hell are the Pubs afraid of???

[KamaAina]

61. From now on, his Delta Tau Chi name is Michael "The Embryo" Steele

with a nod to George "The Animal" Steele, who was in WWF way back before it became WWE, and as hard as it may be to believe, was even crazier than The Embryo.

[AllexxisF1]

62. I watched the whole interview.

It has been years since I seen a politician dodge so many questions. Good God, "adopting embryo's" ...is he serious? the host of the show should have taken him to the cleaners on that response.

[wordpix]

63. it went totally over Russert's head, he didn't bat an eye while I was LOL & WTFing

[napi21]

66. Sorry Mr. Steele, since you have to have a uteris to implant those

embryos in, you aren't qualified to have that opinion!

[geniph]

68. Can we work on getting homes for all the kids who are already HERE?

oh, no, they're not as easy to use as a political football. And they have, like, icky NEEDS and stuff.

:mad:

[TexasLawyer]

69. Many embryos are created and then destroyed

as a natural part of the in-vitro process (freezing, implants that do not "take," etc).

A principled anti-abortion believer should actually want to shut down the whole ball game, because in-vitro does destroy "babies".

But that would be such a politically unpopular position that it is just not an option even for RW Republicans. Also too many affluent contributors have their babies that way.

[superconnected]

70. are they a legal adoption company?

[kestrel91316]

71. They aren't "unused embryos". They're

"unborn children".

Didn't you get the memo?

[Anakin Skywalker]

72. Is This the Pet Rock of this Generation?