Letter to the President
- The letter should be personal.
- It should not attack or criticize the President.
- The letter should discuss something you wish improved.
- It should follow a business letter format.
- Paragraph 1 should begin with “I am concerned about….”
- Paragraph 2 should involve the first reason. It should be about seven sentences. Provide an example for evidence.
- Paragraph 3 should involve your second reason. Ditto #6.
- Paragraph 4 must begin with the word “If.”
- The last paragraph should thank the President for taking the time to read your letter as you know how busy he is. You are also hopeful for a response.
- Respectful and sincere ending.
Summer White
1234 W. Calvin Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85067
President Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
I am very concerned regarding the issue of stem cell research and it’s future in America. This highly controversial issue is in dire need of decisive action to settle the dispute in order to save the lives of thousands. As Collen Paro, the spokesperson for the Republican National Coalition for life stated, “We do not believe that human beings should ever be sacrificed for the benefit of another. We thought we left that at Nuremburg 50 years ago.” We, as Americans, must take back the respect we once had for human life that has been utterly and disturbingly adulterated in the past few decades. Our need for absolution concerning this topic directly correlates to the urgency with which it must be treated. Once that respect has been regained, matters such as abortion, partial-birth abortion, and cloning will come to a final conclusion.
The use of stem cells is a fairly new scientific advance that has proved of benefit to those who have used it, and has augmented their life spans greatly. A cursory glance at the outcome of these new methods of curing disease would certainly cause one to extol this new advance and desire to see this treatment used throughout the world. However, fundamental questions must first be answered: what is a stem cell and where does it come from? The answer to the former is straightforward and simple. A stem cell is a primitive form of a cell that may adapt and change to form into cells that can cure diseases such as Lou Gherig’s, Parkinson’s, and Leukemia. Every living person has stem cells in their bodies. The problem with the use of stem cells and the research that is currently being done on them is that scientists are using human embryos to extract the stem cells because attaining stem cells from adults is said to be too long and hard of a process. According to scientists, in some clinics the embryos are kept alive “in liquid nitrogen indefinitely—or at least until an operator error or equipment malfunction kills them.” I find it disgusting, sickening, and absurd that scientists today are more willing to kill an embryo and dissect it than to spend more time on a quick, painless, and life-sparing process such as extracting the cells from adults. Those same scientists would probably claim that an embryo is not a human life. In that case, I would ask why one would use terms such as “keep the embryos alive” and “kills” in reference to them? Can not only living things be alive? And cannot only living things die? Charley Reese states, “…it is ridiculous for people who have already decided that it is moral to kill babies in the womb to show some squeamishness about destroying human embryos in a petri dish. Hell, man, once you decide to become a child-killer, their ages no longer matter.” A human embryo is human; and it is still alive. Age is not what makes us human. Growth stage is not what constitutes a human being. Who are we to play God and decide who will die so that another may live? A disabled woman speaking to congress says it best: “Do I want to see again? Dance again? Hear like I once did? I do not want those things at the cost of any living person and I consider live embryos to be people.”
One other issue that concerns me regarding the use of embryos in stem cell research is the flood of money that will go into abortion clinics. If allowed, the use of stem cells from embryos will create a surplus in the need for human embryos, requiring the cooperation of clinics such as Planned Parenthood to supply these embryos. This will generate a colossal upsurge in the use of abortion clinics, resulting in a holocaust of the womb. We must not let our country retrogress into the disrespect and hatred for human life that abortion teaches to our children. The very moral foundation of our country is in jeopardy if no one is safe, not even defenseless and frail in the mother’s womb. The woman’s so-called “right to choose” is no more than a right to murder. We must scrutinize how we are living our lives if we cannot even stay out of bed long enough at the age of fourteen to keep from getting pregnant.
If the use of embryos in stem cell research is not banned, I fear greatly for the future of our nation. The use of stem cells is a wonderful scientific breakthrough, and I approve of the use of stem cells from adults to save the lives of those with terrible, life changing diseases. However, I can never approve of the murder and waste of thousands upon thousands of human embryos. “The scientific literature overwhelmingly demonstrates that adult stem cells are already fulfilling the goals only hoped for with embryonic stem cells, making the destruction of human embryos unjustifiable,” stated one biochemist. I sincerely hope that those involved in this heartbreaking controversy will come to a final conclusion and contribute to the bettering of this nation.
Thank you for reading my humble letter. I understand you are very busy and this is only one matter that is on the plate before you. I pray that you have an opportunity to respond, and would greatly appreciated it if you do.
America deserves you.
Respectfully,
Summer White
