Embryo: A Defense of Human Life
Authors: Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen

(publisher’s overview)
People on both sides of the debate over embryonic stem cell research are very passionate about their views. Embryo: A Defense of Human Life takes the debate out of the realm of faith and emotion and examines it in the glaring—and persuasive—light of science and philosophy to build their case that the fetus, from the instant of conception, is a human being, with all the moral and political rights inherent in that status. As such, stem cell research that destroys a viable embryo represents the unacceptable taking of a human life.

George and Tollefsen fearlessly grapple with the political, scientific, and cultural consequences arising from their position and offer a summary of scientific alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. They conclude that the state has an ethical and moral obligation to protect embryonic human beings in just the same manner that it protects every other human being, and they advocate for embryo adoption—the only ethical solution to the problem of spare embryos resulting from in-vitro fertilization.

About the Authors
Robert P. George, a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, is a professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is the author of Making Men Moral, In Defense of Natural Law, and The Clash of Orthodoxies. Robert lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Christopher Tollefsen is an associate professor in the department of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, the director of the graduate program in philosophy, and the author of Biomedical Research and Beyond. He lives in Columbia, South Carolina.