In a speech to the

In a speech to the Pontifical Academy for Life on Monday, the Pope declared that life begins at conception, according to this Associated Press story. This may not sound very shocking, but the story points out that this is the first time the Pope has gotten so specific about when life begins, and has done so in direct reference to in vitro fertilization (and stem cell research by association, since researchers want to derive stem cells from embryos leftover after IVF).

The Vatican has long held that human life begins at conception, but Benedict's comments were significant because he specified that even an embryo in its earliest stages -- when it is just a few cells -- is just as much a human life as an older being.

According to the National Institues of Health, about 50 percent of all fertilized embryos are spontaneously aborted, many without the mothers even realizing it. Apparently these deaths are the will of God according to the Catholic Church. Still, I've yet to hear of a memorial or any lamentation for all those lost souls.

I think Hans Keirstead put it best during his 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night when Ed Bradley asked him how he repsponds to people who believe the cells he's using constitute lives:

"So, let's use it instead of discarding it. Why discard it? If you think that that is a holy thing, then value it, treasure it and keep it. Use it for research and the betterment of lives, don't throw it away."