For a country that has no scruples about allowing hundreds of thousands of dogs to be tortured for their entire lifetimes to produce puppies and kittens for the pet store industry and that has no qualms about spraying cosmetic products into the eyes of rabbits so teeny boppers can die their hair purple, it’s just plain weird when conservatives get all emotional about embryonic stem cell research.

These are the very same people who get all weepy about awful it is to not be able to have a child and how wonderful it is when infertility can be circumvented through in vitro fertilization. In these cases, the idea of “God’s will” is tossed out the window.

They don’t seem to care much if left-over embryos are thrown away. If they’ve ever held a funeral for one, it’s a best-kept secret.

Most of the arguments in favor of embryonic stem cell research center on the potential for curing diseases, such as diabetes and Parkinson’s, or treating spinal chord injuries that have immobilized many, such as Christopher Reeve, who died to early to benefit from it.

This argument seeks to balance the benefit to the living with the demise of cells that have the potential for life, and it gets bogged down in the definition of life.

An equally important argument in favor of embryonic stem cell research is an economic one. This country has already off-shored most of its manufacturing industry. We don’t know how to make anything anymore.

As a country, we need to become leaders in this type of research and therapies if only to keep our brains from atrophying. If the U.S. plans to remain an economic leader, we can’t afford to give another industry away to China.