The pro-life vs. pro-choice debate has been excluding critical information. This debate is not just about being pro-babies or pro-women, this issue entails medical research that can be life-saving for our cancer patients, as well as others who face life-threatening, incurable diseases. Many Americans are affected by cancer, and as the number of diagnoses increases we face a roadblock with anti-abortion laws. A vote against abortion is a vote against life-saving research for our cancer patients. In 2022 the case of Roe V Wade was overturned leaving abortion laws up to the states, since then 41 states across the U.S have abortion bans in place.
Fetal stem cell and fetal tissue research have been crucial in advancing cancer treatment options. This research uses cells from dead fetuses, these cells are then harvested and used for establishing cell lines that can be used for transplants or creating a more humanized mouse model that can be used to test new drug therapies. Fetal tissue research is a key part of engineering vaccines, these vaccines help prevent widespread disease and they are also essential for immunocompromised patients and cancer patients who are more susceptible to complications. This research helps make advances in many other incurable diseases as well. The fetal tissue used for this research would have already been discarded if not used for the good of making advances in medical technology and research.
CAR-T-cell therapy is an innovative treatment for blood cancer patients, specifically those who experience relapses within their diagnosis. These T-cells can be taken from the patient and re-engineered to bind to specific proteins or antigens and directly kill the cells infected with cancer, leaving the healthy cells intact. This treatment has led to long-term survival for our cancer patients. Researchers came to this discovery using fetal stem cell and fetal tissue research.
You may be wondering why I, a 21-year-old college student, know about this research. I know about this because it saved my mother’s life. When I was eighteen years old my mother was diagnosed with blood cancer. I spent my sleepless nights wondering if memories of my mom would end at 18. As this debate went on while my mother went through treatment I was only focused on one thing, my mother’s life. The targeted chemo pills used to prep my mom for a stem cell transplant couldn’t have been tested without this research, the stem cell transplant my mother received, the science needed to discover what saved her was found through this research. And for the day my mother’s cancer inevitably returns CAR-T-cell therapy will be the science that saves her yet again. I am pro-choice because I am pro my mother’s life. The issue of pro-life vs pro-choice isn’t about babies, it’s about cells, cells that save the lives of millions.
A pro-life vote is a vote towards the death of our cancer patients, our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, grandparents, cousins, and friends who will be incapable of receiving their life-saving treatment. So next time you vote remember that anti-abortion laws are not just about abortions.
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