Ideology in My Controversy

My previous posts have been a lot of sources that I have found through research about the stem cell controversy as a whole. Now I'm going to discuss two main events that the stem cell controversy can be traced back to, and approach the controversy from a narrower perspective. This is necessary because the field of stem cell research is too broad to cover every aspect of it. 

The first is President George W. Bush's Stem Cell Policy that was enacted August 9, 2001 and then President Barack Obama's Stem Cell Policy that changed starting March 9, 2009. 

"Black and White House". Ableman, Scott. January 7, 2007 via flickr. Creative Commons License. 

• Who is involved in the controversy? This controversy involves political figures, government, scientists, research companies, and the public. 

• Who are some of the major speakers/writers within these groups? The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is an impactful group involved in the stem cell controversy. Obama remains the current speaker for the voice of Capitol Hill. 

• What kind of social/cultural/economic/political power does each group hold? The NIH holds political power because they set guidelines for stem cell research. The public does not hold much power, but the majority of the conflict comes from social groups that express ethical concerns. The government has economic power because they decide how the stem cell research gets funding; their are laws that determine these funding restrictions. so research companies have to rely on private funding which isn't always sufficient. 

• What resources are available to different positions? For scientists and research companies, the resources of become more plentiful even though they can not fund their research with tax dollars. These companies have to rely on private funding which sin't always sufficient for the task at hand. As for political figures and the government, the Dickey-Wicker amendment is a law that stands to prohibit federally funded investigations that create or harm embryos. This law was in line with Bush's policy, and also stands against Obama's changed policy. 

• What does each group value? The NIH values that ethical procedures be in place for stem cell research. This means that researches can only use unused embryos from fertility clinics in order to receive funding. Ethical concerns are mostly expressed by the public and range from full support of humane stem cell research to complete disapproval of the procedures. Obama wants to see that research receives full funding despite implications. The government believes that this is the only way significant advances will be made in the medical field. 

• What counts as evidence for the different positions? Government policies and laws are the most substantial evidence for their perspective positions. News articles remain the strongest evidence for the public and research company positions. 

• Is there any acknowledged common ground between groups? The only acknowledged ground between the groups is that there is some advantage of stem cell research. The advantage is that advancements in medical technology can help cure diseases. 

• Is there any unacknowledged common ground? All sides of the controversy are acknowledged by each group, so there there is no unacknowledged common ground. 

• Do the various groups listen to each other? The laws that the NIH, as well as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, put in place are followed by government policy. However, government policy are trying to find ways around these laws that give research companies full resources. The public opinion has little impact on the national level, but does have an affect on individual companies and their specific procedures.