Culture of Life or Culture of Death? My ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Dilemma

By now everyone has seen or participated in the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” including my whole family.  I actually challenged my family, and God Bless them; they all accepted the challenge, including my grandchildren, one in the picture above and two of them only two years old. 

My husband and I had planned to do our ice bucket challenge a few Saturdays ago; however, after reading articles about the ALS Research Fund, we hesitated on doing so.  Apparently, some of the clinical trials used in this research use cells from the remains of aborted babies. 

The paragraph highlighted in the picture above states: 

“Adult stem cell research is important and should be done alongside embryonic stem cell research as both will provide valuable insights.  Only through exploration of all types of stem cell research will scientists find the most efficient and effective ways to treat diseases."   (Use this link to read complete article from ALL)  

ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease as it is more commonly referred to, is a horrible disease.  And research for a cure for this disease is important and long overdue; but at what expense?  Do we further exploit aborted babies by desecrating their remains in order to achieve a cure?  After all, these babies didn’t have a choice in their demise or consent to have their remains used for research.  And I’m sure that there are others avenues that could be used in research. 

Because of the various articles I have read, I have made a decision that the monies that I promised to send to ALS for the ‘challenge’ would be better used by an organization that supports the culture of life.  

The John Paul II Research Fund is a secular organization that is grounded in a pro-life bioethic that respects the dignity of every human life. (Use this link for more information about this fund and to make a donation)

Until the ALS Research Fund stops using aborted babies in their research, I in good conscience cannot support them or this culture of death in which we live; I’d rather do what I can to help return our nation to one of a culture of life. 

My donation will be going to the John Paul II Research Fund, and I hope others who took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge will do the same.