If stem cell therapy has given a ray of hope to many, it has
also given birth to various debates. While stem cells from the
umbilical cord blood or the patients own body has no big impact,
the idea extracting and using stem cells from live embryos has
raised many ethical questions. The possibility of using human
embryonic stem cells questions the two fundamentals that are
highly respected one; one principle supports the prevention and
elevation of human suffering and the other beckons us to value
and respect human life. The stem cells derived from the human
embryos are extracted from IVF embryos, with due consent of the
donors. Harvesting embryonic stem cells causes destruction of
blastocycts. Blastocysts are structures that are formed in the
early stages of embryogenesis. Supporters of embryonic stem cell
research state that since blastocysts are a cluster of 150 cells
and don’s even have a nervous systems, they cannot be classified
as “live” or human beings. This means that extracting stem cells
from embryo