Using Aborted Tissue in Research

Abortion should not be the issue in fetal tissue research for cures for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other auto-immune diseases (“We Who Face This Nightmare See Fetal Research in a Different Light,” by Joan Samuelson Corbett, Commentary, Sept. 29).

Long before Roe vs. Wade legalized “choice” abortions, fetal tissue cultures were used to develop the polio vaccine.

Diabetics cost the health system $20.4 billion a year. Diabetics face blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks and circulatory problems that often lead to amputations.

How does a diabetic father face such a future for himself, while knowing that his genes may threaten the same life for his children with this often inherited disease?

Sickle cell anemia, spinal injuries, multiple sclerosis don’t differentiate whether the victim is pro-choice or pro-life. It is incumbent upon Congress to right this horrible ban on such promising research.

BILLIE LEIMAN

Ventura