From Andro Hsu
President Bush’s hypocrisy on the embryonic stem cell (ESC) issue extends far beyond his unwillingness to ban outright all ESC research (29 July, p 3). He is on the record as supporting in vitro fertilisation (IVF), even though that process typically creates multiple embryos, and leaves many in the freezer where they will inevitably die. And although he has recently supported an “embryo adoption” programme precisely to address the issue of leftover frozen embryos, Bush has not made any move to stop the public funding of IVF research.
Furthermore, Bush’s rationale against ESC research directly contradicts his rationale for upholding the death penalty (which was implemented 131 times while he was governor of Texas, more than in any other state). In his 25 May 2005 column in Slate magazine, William Saletan compared quotes in which Bush attacks ESC research (“No human life should be exploited or extinguished for the benefit of another”) with those where Bush upheld the death penalty (“I happen to believe that the death penalty, when properly applied, saves lives of others”). It would be invidious to discuss here how this moral calculus, or lack thereof, extends to the Iraq war.
Of course, moral hypocrisy is not the preserve of President Bush. I know vegan cell biologists who won’t so much as wear a leather Birkenstock, but don’t bat an eyelid at culturing cells with 10 per cent fetal bovine serum, which, by definition, is obtained from fetal calves discovered when their mothers are butchered. Peter Singer, the Princeton bioethicist, would argue that all pro-life meat-eaters are hypocrites because an adult pig or cow certainly has more capacity for self-awareness than a human embryo.
On an issue with less serious consequences: I revile the industrial food system, yet on my limited graduate student stipend often find myself opening a box of processed macaroni and cheese for dinner.
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For most of us, the euphemism for hypocrisy is pragmatism, which means going about your business and looking the other way. As you point out, for President Bush, that pragmatism lies in satisfying the ever-hungry maw of the electoral machine: you got to dance with them what brung ya.
From Harold Rohlik
It has been established that 30 to 50 per cent of all conceptions end in miscarriage. The embryos involved are generally flushed away down the toilet or discarded as medical waste, with no concerns about human life or souls.
Brunswick, Ohio, US
San Diego, California, US
