American Diabetes Foundation & Stem Cells?

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I’ve always avoided donating money for diabetes research since they keep lobbying for embryonic stem cell research.
My son’s school is raising money for the American Diabetes Foundation because his Math teacher suffers from diabetes.
I’m assuming donations will be partly used to lobby for embryonic stem cell research which is immoral. Am I mistaken to withhold contributions? Or is it licit for Catholics to support these folks if the majority of their work will benefit others?
Appreciate any comments.Thanks!
(And yes, I will check with our priest on this when I can.)
 
Sorry, I found out it’s the American Diabetes Assoc. not Foundation.
 
I also would like to know the answer to this. I tend to stay away from donating to medical causes because of the potential for embryonic stem cell research.

-mike
 
My son has Type 1 Diabetes. As much as i would like to see a cure. I would NOT donate to a charity that any of the money would be used to support issues that DIRECTLY contradict the teaching of the Church.

I also don’t give to unicef because some of the money is used to fund abortions.

JMO:shrug:
 
Are you sure that organization lobbies for embroyonic stem cell research?
 
It is an interesting, and yes, controversial question. Stem cell research can help to cure many diseases. They are just cells-just like skin cells, sperm cells, or ova, which human bodies shed daily. They are not even capable of independent life without support in culture media.

Yes, all life is sacred, I agree. All life going back to primordial first cell. But there is a difference, the total human is more than just a sum of the parts. And the parts are less than the whole. And what about cancer cells, do you object when a doctor cures cancer? To do it, you have to kill human cells.

So here is the question. We all have more reproductive cells than we can use in fifty lifetimes for children. Even many fertilized ova abort naturally.

So by banning stem cell research, one is condemning many people to more suffering and death-people that could be cured with the findings from stem cell research. Children are wonderful- a blessing, and ART help parents have children. There are always some spare cells which can be donated to help others.
Besides, if stem cell research is allowed to continue [ethically, of course] then researchers may find ways to develop stem cells from ordinary cells. But it takes time, and further research. Some progress has already been made.

I know folks feel that they must obey the doctrine of the church. But I personally think that there is more compassion, more humanity, in saving lives through this science.

The church is sometimes wrong-it is fallible. They got the thing about Mary Magdeline wrong-Christ’s friend and confidant, and they called her a whore for 1700 years. I think they will change their minds about stem cell research too, and good Catholics can help them do so.
Ethics is about finding solutions to hard questions, and sometimes there is no easy answer. But before anyone dismisses stem cell research, and tries to get it banned -think of this. You are condemning many people to more pain and death. Do you really have the right to do that? Some people, are not Catholics, so is it right to try to deny everyone in the community access to this medical technology on the basis you think it is wrong?
Catholics are free to refuse the product of stem cell research on the basis of conscience, or you can refuse to donate to such research. Also fine. No problem. But some are trying to get it banned from the whole community. And that is wrong. There are people who are not Catholic, and do not believe in the same things.
 
Cracker_Mom said:
Am I mistaken to withhold contributions? Or is it licit for Catholics to support these folks if the majority of their work will benefit others?
Appreciate any comments.Thanks!
(And yes, I will check with our priest on this when I can.)
Click to expand...
This is what I did. I spoke to a priest about this very question. He told me to do this: Call the American Diabetese Association and ask if they, in fact, do this research. (Answer: Yes) And, then ask what advancements they have made from this research. (Answer: none) They have made strides using Adult stem cell research. I just read about a vaccine they are trying using adult stem cells.

Then ask this question: Is there any way for your money - no matter how much it is, whether it is $2, $20,or $2,000 - to be funneled away from that research, because you do not agree with the research. For example - Can your money go to a scholarship fund for the Diabetes Camp - or something like that.

I did call- and asked. The person I spoke to said he would check into it and call me back with an answer - I did not receive a phone call. We did not give a donation. 🤷
 
darwinsbulldog, when you are talking about stem cell research, you have to be careful about your terminology. Stem cell is actually a general term. It is like saying Bertha is sick. You know that Bertha is sick but you have no idea how sick she is and what illness she has. When you are talking about stem cells, it’s important to differentiate what stem cells you are talking about. There are adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells, cord blood stem cells, etc. All multicellular organisms have stem cells; that is how they renew themselves. The basic definition of a stem cell is that it is a cell that has not yet differentiated itself. In other words, it doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up. That being said, adult stem cells usually end up being a type of cell of the organ that produced it. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent meaning they have the ability to become any type of cell. This is why embroyonic cells are more desirable for research. However, scientist have learned a lot from adult stem cells as well. They are learning how to turn genes on and off to guide the cells to change their differentiation. So, my point is that the Catholic church is not against all stem cell research, just embryonic stem cell research for obvious reasons.
 
Darwinsbulldog said:
It is an interesting, and yes, controversial question. Stem cell research can help to cure many diseases. They are just cells-just like skin cells, sperm cells, or ova, which human bodies shed daily. They are not even capable of independent life without support in culture media.

Yes, all life is sacred, I agree. All life going back to primordial first cell. But there is a difference, the total human is more than just a sum of the parts. And the parts are less than the whole. And what about cancer cells, do you object when a doctor cures cancer? To do it, you have to kill human cells.

So here is the question. We all have more reproductive cells than we can use in fifty lifetimes for children. Even many fertilized ova abort naturally.

So by banning stem cell research, one is condemning many people to more suffering and death-people that could be cured with the findings from stem cell research. Children are wonderful- a blessing, and ART help parents have children. There are always some spare cells which can be donated to help others.
Besides, if stem cell research is allowed to continue [ethically, of course] then researchers may find ways to develop stem cells from ordinary cells. But it takes time, and further research. Some progress has already been made.

I know folks feel that they must obey the doctrine of the church. But I personally think that there is more compassion, more humanity, in saving lives through this science.

The church is sometimes wrong-it is fallible. They got the thing about Mary Magdeline wrong-Christ’s friend and confidant, and they called her a whore for 1700 years. I think they will change their minds about stem cell research too, and good Catholics can help them do so.
Ethics is about finding solutions to hard questions, and sometimes there is no easy answer. But before anyone dismisses stem cell research, and tries to get it banned -think of this. You are condemning many people to more pain and death. Do you really have the right to do that? Some people, are not Catholics, so is it right to try to deny everyone in the community access to this medical technology on the basis you think it is wrong?
Catholics are free to refuse the product of stem cell research on the basis of conscience, or you can refuse to donate to such research. Also fine. No problem. But some are trying to get it banned from the whole community. And that is wrong. There are people who are not Catholic, and do not believe in the same things.
Click to expand...
You are half right; “So by banning stem cell research, one is condemning many people to more suffering and death-people that could be cured with the findings from stem cell research.”

Stem sell research using non-embryonic stem cells has already produced significant medical cures and advances without destroying any embryos (a human baby).

Embryonic stem cell research has produced zero cures to date. So by taking money from successful, non-embryonic (umbilical cord, etc…) stem cell research and giving it to embryonic stem cell research you are not only financing the murder of innocent human beings but you are condemning those people who could have been cured today, had the money been applied to non-embryonic stem cell research.

That is a double barreled shotgun of death.

This has nothing to do with the Catholic Church. The Church is 100% correct when it teaches that it is never acceptable, under any circumstance to murder an innocent human being, from conception to natural death.

It is true that some people would experiment on and murder other people for their own selfish gains, look at the Nazis.

No reasonable person would encourage the taking of innocent life for their own gain, especially when there are stem cells readily available from non-embryonic sources.

This is purely about MONEY! Those with a monetary stake in embryonic stem cell research are using the scare tactics of fear and emotions to obscure the truth.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus.

Mark
 
I’m a diabetic and I do not support ivf which is the source of the embryo stem cells. That being said, the American Diabetes Association is a great institution. Through research and developments, millions of people are living with a disease that used to be a death sentence. The same goes with American Cancer Society. They give grants to Planned Parenthood, which we know does abortions. However the American Cancer Society is a generally good organization. We donate to the Catholic Church. However we know that the Catholic Church is having to pay for settlements and won lawsuits from the damage that was done by pedophile priests that the Church covered up. However, the Catholic Church in general is good. There are a lot of things that we will not totally agree with that these organizations do, but we must not focus on so much of the bad that they are doing, but what good comes out from donating to them.
 
nfpworks said:
This is what I did. I spoke to a priest about this very question. He told me to do this: Call the American Diabetese Association and ask if they, in fact, do this research. (Answer: Yes) And, then ask what advancements they have made from this research. (Answer: none) They have made strides using Adult stem cell research. I just read about a vaccine they are trying using adult stem cells.

Then ask this question: Is there any way for your money - no matter how much it is, whether it is $2, $20,or $2,000 - to be funneled away from that research, because you do not agree with the research. For example - Can your money go to a scholarship fund for the Diabetes Camp - or something like that.

I did call- and asked. The person I spoke to said he would check into it and call me back with an answer - I did not receive a phone call. We did not give a donation. 🤷
Click to expand...
Thanks so much! The Diabetes Camp would be a good choice if donations could be directed there but I bet that won’t happen.
My daughter suggested also calling the USCCB to see if there’s an official policy re. this group. I’m going to try that route.
 
I wouldn’t give to any org. that had anything to do with taking innocent life. It would be like giving to planned parenthood and asking them to only use it for pap smears or something
 
I liked the approach that someone suggested earlier of asking that your funds be specifically allocated somewhere.

My sister has Type I diabetes, and a few months ago she asked me to become an advocate for the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). I was mostly for it, but I wanted to do a bit of research before agreeing and I found that a LOT of their research funds are used to fund embryonic stem cell research. At that point, I told her that I couldn’t - and why.

A few days later she told me she had, of her own accord, rescinded all the requests for people she had invited to be JDRF advocates. In her letter to each of them, she told them that although she would love to be cured for good of her disease, she wasn’t willing to have that cure come at the expense of innocent babies. I was SO proud of my baby sister! 😃

I’m all for using adult, placenta, cord blood, etc. stem cells. There’s even a new technique out now in which skin cells are transformed into pluri-potent stem cells (stems cells that can become many things), that appears to be as promising (if not more promising) than embryonic stem cells. Perhaps you could ask the ADF to fund that instead?
 
Hi Cracker Mom,

I try not to give money to organizations that do embryonic stem cell(ESC) research. Stipulating the use of the money for non ESC purposes just helps free up other monies for ESC when your stipulated project is covered.

If enough people stopped giving, these associations would pursue other avenues of research.

Quite aside from that, it’s a waste of money. Embryonic Stem Cells have yielded nothing in the way of useful data, while adult stem cells have yielded over three hundred therapeutic applications.

God Bless
 
Really appreciate you all taking the time to respond.My thoughts are that we won’t be donating to this charity unless we hear something to the contrary from the USCCB.
Guess the Diabetes Assoc. will be on the “naughty list” along with the March of Dimes.🤷
 
Gerard_Nadal said:
Hi Cracker Mom,

I try not to give money to organizations that do embryonic stem cell(ESC) research. Stipulating the use of the money for non ESC purposes just helps free up other monies for ESC when your stipulated project is covered.

If enough people stopped giving, these associations would pursue other avenues of research.

Quite aside from that, it’s a waste of money. Embryonic Stem Cells have yielded nothing in the way of useful data, while adult stem cells have yielded over three hundred therapeutic applications.

God Bless
Click to expand...
I saw on the news a few days ago that British and Canadian scientists have made a breakthrough with adult stem cells and overcame some problems that existed. The scientists interviewed said there would be no need for using embryonic stem cells in future.
 
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