President Obama recently lifted the ban on federal funding into embryonic stem cell research and signed an Executive Order to bring the change that so many scientists, doctors, researchers, patients and loved ones have hoped for…

He is a man of faith, and believes we are all called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering.

Is he right or is there conflict between religion and science in this delicate subject?

Being in a wheelchair myself since 1985, I welcome any progress where cancer, alzyhmers, or spinal cord injuries will be a thing of the past.

I’ll concentrate on my own condition, ‘A disease that cannot be treated’ was how an Egyptian papyrus referred to spinal cord injury more than 3,500 years ago.

One late Saturday night in October 1985, I was driving home with my girlfriend, we took the normal route home. It was a winding road, that had sharp bends and a low speed limit. I was already thinking of taking my dog out on Sunday and how busy work was going to be on Monday. Then to my horror a park car on a bend made me swerve and hit a lamp post, the next thing I knew was I couldn’t move and was being cut out of the car…

In ‘emergency’ I knew the worst already, when the cord is damaged, the muscles below the injury level do not know what to do without commands from the brain. The higher the injury, the more life-threatening it is likely to be. The two vertebrae closest to the brain, C1 and C2, this tragically was where Christopher Reeve broke his neck and was made reference to by President Obama that in his life time ‘didn’t get the chance. I am C5, and I don’t suppose I’ll get that chance either…

In World War One, 80% spinal injured soldiers died within 2 weeks, by 1980 more than 90% were surviving thanks to the research and understanding of a German doctor called Guttman.

But now can more be done to make it possible for people to walk again or is it morally wrong and against the word of God? The use of human embryonic stem cells, like the use of cells from a fetus, is problematic because they are derived from human embryos, which entangles them in controversy over abortion and because of this the Catholic church and other religious groups oppose research.

They say an embryo was a person, and a person has a right to life…

So can God and science come together, or are the scientists playing at being God already, they can already duplicate an exact replica in the animal world or design the baby of your choice, boy or girl, blue or brown eyes…

There are thousands every year who will end up in a wheelchair, or someone you know will have cancer…So is it ethically and morally right to pursue stem cell research for the good of mankind?