[Both wings]
"A Gallup snapshot poll taken immediately after President Bush's speech
on funding embryonic stem cell research last night shows
that half of Americans approve of his decision, 25% do not,
and still another 25% aren't sure what to think."
[Left wing]
"Most people don't even know what stem cells are."
[Both wings]
"Who's going to scream the loudest?
Will it be the right-to-lifer's, will it be the scientists?
And now what's going to happen
is that there will be a tremendous amount of lobbying in Washington D.C:
scientists, entertainers, people who want to see this research will be coming forth."
[Right wing]
"I'm concerned about it, Christopher Reeve is concerned about it,
everyone is concerned about it, but the big question is:
do the ends justify the means?
And when we talk about research,
yes, we can cure a lot of things speculatively, but where's the proof?"
[Left wing]
"These developing human beings that they're talking about, these embryos,
were produced in an artificial scientific environment.
In vitro fertilization is not God's will."
[Right wing]
"That doesn't make them any less human, though, after that happens."
[Both wings]
"We're on a road where we really don't know where we're going as far as what's next.
We're talking about harvesting embryos,
we're talking about this, we're talking about that, but what is the cost?"
[Left wing]
"How could we possibly abandon the research?"
[Left wing]
"Well that's right, it's the old question. I mean, if you think the research is good,
of course you'd have no problem at all with it.
It's only if you think the research involved is something evil,
then you get the question of ‘Is it okay to…?’ and the truth of the matter
is that we do that all the time with organ transplants,
I mean with people that are killed or murdered
or people who're just victims of automobile accidents, abandoning all hope.
We do take their organs and we look to try to save other lives.
We try to [do that?] all the time.
[Right wing]
"And in this country there was a great outrage […]
from all points, from churches, mainline [???]...
that you can not use developing humans to cure…
[???]...at that point in time they turn into humans."
[Left wing]
"And I'd like to mention that we don't have the answers yet.
We need to put the money into something
that'll hopefully get those answers in the future.
Listen, we're out of time."
What if someone said promise lies ahead?
Hopes are high in certain scientific circles
Life won't have to end
You could walk again
What if someone said problems lie ahead?
They've uncovered something highly controversial
The right to life is strong
Can't you see it's wrong?
Humankind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero, ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide,
or to white coat heroes searching for a cure?
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
Anarchistic moral vision
Industries of death
Facing violent opposition
Unmolested breath
Ethic inquisitions breed
antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
in a labyrinth of rules
Are you justified? (x3)
Justified in taking life to save life?
Life to save life
Taking life to save life
This embryonic clay wrapped in fierce debate
would be thrown away or otherwise discarded
Some of us believe it may hold the key
to treatment of disease and secrets highly guarded
Are you justified? (x3)
Justified in taking life to save life?
Life to save life
Taking life to save life
Humankind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero, ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide,
or to white coat heroes searching for a cure?
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
We're reaching, but have we gone too far?
Harvesting existence only to destroy
Carelessly together we are sliding
Someone else's future four days frozen still
Someone else's fate we are deciding
Miracle potential! Sanctity of life!
Faced against each other, we're divided
Should we push the boundaries. or should we condemn?
Moral guilt and science have collided
Turn to the light
We defy our own mortality these days
Turn to the light
Pay attention to the questions we have raised
[Left wing]
"...research, scientific advancement.
And I know we're going down a road that we may not know where we end,
But we - that's exactly what science is all about.
I’m very sorry, but I…you know, I do feel sympathy
for people who…whose spines are...have, uh, have been severed.
There’s a possibility we might be able to cure them.
I am concerned about a cure for juvenile diabetes.
And if these types of scientific advancements can cure these diseases,
then quite candidly, I think there ought to be
at least what President Bush has said, some limited research."
[Right wing]
"One of the…one of the big questions that still remains for me, though,
is that all of these embryos that are…are set or, uh, being discarded,
for example, um…is this worse than just throwing those away?"
[Right wing]
"We don't know if they're going to be discarded.
All of a sudden, I mean, we're going to say, uh,
we started with the ones that are going to be discarded.
Then all of a sudden, we're going to have people being solicited
to donate parts of their…their anatomy, to harvest parts of,
what, their heart or what have you. I mean, that's how's it starts."
[Right wing]
"Even though if they start soliciting, women and men in fertility clinics have extra embryos."
[Right wing]
"Stem cells come from developing human beings
and that they shouldn't be, uh, experimented on
in a way that doesn't make sense or that is unethical,
but at the same time, there is great promise."
[Left wing]
"I have a 28-year-old son, her grandson, that…that, uh, is, uh, paraplegic.
And if there is any...a small chance that my son
would be able to have any feeling and be able to walk, I am for it."
[Right wing]
"The human body has been evolving for tens of thousands of years
and we're just injecting cells from embryos into people's brains,
and...and how do we come to…to do something like that?"
