thank you Bear,
i made this post with the hope that we could be mature about this and discuss this logically and not resort into name calling and cursing and various strange superstitions.
unfortunately, many of the members here do not possess that level of maturity. having said that, let the games begin!
I wish to make a proposal which is long overdue. For twenty-three years we have recognized the right of women to do with their bodies and their fetuses as they see fit. For twenty-three years we have provided regular ammunition to the so-called "Right to Life" anti-abortion movement for their hysterical and completely superstitious campaign to ban abortion. We have provided their sensational campaign ammunition by treating aborted fetuses as though they were indeed dead babies -- we have disposed of them furtively in burial sites and through incineration -- wasted incredibly valuable substances in the process.
Now at last scientists are waking up to the fact that we have an valuable natural resource here, going to waste -- namely fetal tissue and fetal organs which have great value for curative purposes. But my proposal goes beyond the suggestions of research doctors who see the day when "fetus farming" will not only benefit the population, both young and old, but also profit mothers who otherwise have little to show for their efforts after an abortion. My proposal involves a method for using nearly all the tissue of all the fetuses being aborted.
My proposal is not without precedent. In fact, as far back as the eighteenth century a little known author published a pamphlet entitled, "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of the Poor People in Ireland from being a Burden to their Parents or Country; and for making them beneficial to their Publick". The title and its contents approaches many of the same ideals I would like to put forth. Since the society of the time was not enlightened enough to act on the proposals suggested, no rights or patents of any kind were ever taken out. I therefore have design and process patents pending on most of the particulars outlined below and any use of them without permission of this writer will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law which protects against such barbarism.
Assuming the smooth progression of the humane and democratic currents which have brought our nation so far in the last decades, I do not doubt but what we will soon be using organs and tissue from the unborn not only to cure Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases, but to extend life for helpless babies which might otherwise die cruel deaths. As doctors have already pointed out, healthy organs are likely to be available soon from fetuses born with severe malformities and terminated after birth. Although the extremists argue this would be ethically unacceptable,
it is obviously a quibble to distinguish between a baby born at thirty-six weeks and a fetus unborn at thirty-six weeks. It is clearly legal to terminate the latter, and so it will no doubt become legal to terminate the former. Nobel prize winner Crick is on record with the proposal that we not treat babies as humans until each proves to have sufficiently high intelligence. Since he is now in charge of the Human Genome Project, there is little doubt that he will implement that policy at the first opportunity. Soon, it is to expected, not only will organs be available from sub-human post-fetuses ( I prefer this term for its lack of sentimental associations) terminated soon after birth, but even organs from mentally or physically handicapped matured-fetuses will also be available.
On the one hand all this sounds like great riches for healers pledged to save lives, but from another standpoint it still indicates potential for great waste. The disposal of unwanted tissues has always been a problem for hospitals and clinics. In the early days of abortion, particularly, anti-abortion radicals got a great deal of press coverage over a few incidents where the disposal of fetal materials was not carried out efficiently or discreetly. Times have changed somewhat, it is true, and now many citizens realize that abortion is not something to be ashamed of, nor its products necessarily something to be secretly disposed of. European cosmetic manufacturers, for instance, and even some American firms are using fetal collagen in their hair-enrichening shampoos and skin-enrichening face creams. Be this as it may, an incredible mass of fetal tissue is harvested by the hospitals and clinics of our nation and something ought to be done to properly utilize, not only those parts which are coming to be thought of as valuable, but the whole of the aborted fetus.
I believe I am the first scientist in our times to propose the utilization of fetal tissues for food. The nutritional value of the fetus is obvious to anyone. It is human protien, though of course, the fetus isn't human. Nevertheless, the amino acids, the protiens which compose the fetus are the very ones the human body can best use. How sad that our government has spent money perfecting ideal foods for such things as the space program when a tube of concentrated fetal protien would do the job so much better. Research has led me to propose we open canning factories in conjunction with abortion units carrying out four thousand or more abortions per year. (Central facilities could then be opened for the raw materials from those doing fewer than four thousand abortions).
The optimum method of preparation would be simply canning. The fetal tissue including placental material* would be received only if transshipped within four hours of its removal. The tissue would be washed and canned then cooked under high pressure in ways the meat-canning industry has already perfected with other sorts of meat.** In the event that market research should indicate some reluctance on the part of the consumer to consume the meat in its whole state, further processing approaches would be used, such as the puree process, or sausage-making. Even fresh products -- some of the choicer cuts or burger might be sold if refrigeration and packaging were found economically feasible. The whole products would contain very little bone, of course, and canning would soften any cartilages. Perhaps with a gradual introduction, whole fetus meat, which would be cheaper to produce would become acceptable to the public. I remember as a boy being startled at first to see whole sardines and kippers, bones and all, in the cans my mother brought home from the super market. Gradually, however, I came to enjoy them.
I feel confident that my proposal, although it will require government subsidy at the research and initial stages, will eventually prove economically profitable. It is possible that the final outcome might include cheaper abortions -- or even profits for the women involved!
After long thought, I have hit upon a trademark and name. The trademark would include a healthy-looking painting of a fetal face (After abortion the real thing is seldom as lovely as the ideal) resembling the cheerful ones seen on baby food and equipment advertisements. The only difference would be two small black X's painted in place of the eyes. The trade name I propose, in honor of Jonathan Swift, who must be credited with the original conception, is "Modest Meats". Our slogan might be "Modest Meats -- What the modern man eats".