Women and stem cell research

The natural way to connect the stem-cell research debate with women’s rights is to note that the same conservatives who are against embryonic stem cell research are also usually opposed to abortion rights. At least that’s one way I’d always thought about the issue.
But as Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society writes, young women are needed to act as egg donors to further certain types of stem-cell research. And few people are asking the important questions about the safety of egg harvesting.

Most embryonic stem cell research does not require women’s eggs. To date, all existing embryonic stem cell lines have been derived from embryos that were created but not used for fertility purposes. […] But some researchers are trying to develop another derivation method, which relies on the technique known as research cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Those efforts do require additional eggs, in large numbers.

And egg retrieval isn’t exactly a walk in the park, which is something I could have guessed when I saw ads in my college newspaper offering egg donors thousands of dollars.

Egg retrieval involves giving a woman hormones to first “shut down� and then “over-stimulate� her ovaries, followed by surgical extraction of multiple eggs under general anesthesia. Though the procedure is widely used in fertility clinics, data about both its short-term and long-term risks are grossly inadequate. Serious adverse reactions, even several deaths, have been reported.

California funds stem-cell research with state money, and recently enacted a law classifying egg donors as “research subjects.” This will ensure women understand the risks involved and are covered in the case of an adverse event. Darnovsky notes that few states other than California fund this type of research. But if that changes, we need to be advocating for similar safeguards in other states. Something to keep an eye on.