“ALS victim opposes stem cell research,” reads today’s PhillyBurbs.com headline.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29702445/

It tells the story of Jim McKevitt who uses what few abilities he has left — he can still move his fingers — to track the opposition: ” individuals and interest groups who beat the drum to try to force Washington to approve federal funds to finance the use of embryos to harvest stem cells for research.”

The 71-year-old, says the story, is “appalled by the groundswell of support for what he calls an immoral and ‘pointless’ approach to pursuing cures when so many other routes such as adult stem cell research already have shown promise.”

It quotes him saying: “If experimenting on just one embryo would lead to a cure for me, I absolutely would not do it. It’s murder of a human being.”

ALS — Lou Gehrig’s disease — causes loss of control of motor skills, and can affect a person’s ability to speak, swallow and, in the end, breathe.

The article says that he is a devout Catholic and that his wife and eight children care for him.

The family supports his stance against clone and kill research — even his 15 grandchildren who he has never been able to embrace and who have never heard his voice.

The story quotes Father Tad Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia

“Mr. McKevitt is also looking reality in the face; he understands what an embryo is,” said Pacholczyk. “Science fully understands what an embryo is. You don’t need any faith at all.”

The story also quotes Father Pacholcyzk’s hope for the ultimate defeat of legal embryonic stem cell research.

“I remain optimistic about the future because the truth has the power to reach people,” he said. “When truth is spoken, something inside the listener resonates.”