Okay, which is it?

Last year, during Hurricane Katrina, heroic efforts resulted in 1,400 frozen embryos being rescued from a flooded hospital.

But every day, embryos are destroyed in terminated pregnancies. Others are discarded by fertility clinics (like the one from which the New Orleans embryos were rescued) when the prospective parents no longer need them. These same unwanted embryos are, of course, the ones so highly prized by medical researchers for the stem cells they contain.

Some of these embryos, implanted after being rescued, are about to make their first public appearance as children, to the delight not only of their parents, but of their rescuers as well. “One of these embryos could be the next president,” noted one of them.

So... are they just a bunch of cells, to be used or discarded as someone sees fit -- or human beings (possibly even the future leader of the free world!) worthy of heroic efforts to save?

We can't have it both ways!