Students at the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy receive instructions in diverse subjects including apologetics, epistemology, worldview, and ethics. During our three-hour ethics dialogue, students were placed in groups and assigned questions to examine, and where possible, to solve. Their mission was to break down the issues presented by each question into their various component parts, identify the critical available facts, search for applicable biblical laws and principles, and attempt to determine a policy result which is consistent with Scripture.
The following question (paraphrased) presented at the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy this year requires the student to examine a host of foundational ethical issues, and the implications of their conclusions, including the question: What biblical principles apply when examining the needs of potentially life-saving research on the one hand, and the “bodies” of aborted babies on the other.
A legislator is asked to vote on a question of embryonic stem cell research. The scientific community indicates that the results of this research will save many lives. The congressman thinks of himself as pro-life and indicates that he will not allow research on human embryos, but he asks you as his personal advisor for your view on whether he should allow research on previously aborted embryos, so that their lives will not go to waste. What counsel would you give him?