By: Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com February 24, 2013 9:10 AM

Stem cell tray. AFP/GETTY IMAGES FILE PHOTO

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

MANILA The stem cells used in some anti-aging medical procedures here were harvested not from recipients themselves or donors but from elective abortion of human babies abroad, the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) warned.

PSSCM spokesperson Dr. Leo Olarte said that in some procedures, the sources of the stem cells are babies and even the egg cells of women.

This practice poses ethical and moral questions, he said.

With this in mind and realizing that we can consider this as exploitation of other human beings for personal benefit, we ask ourselves if this is an ethical and moral medical procedure, he said.

Olarte said the entry of these stem cells in the country must be stopped.

We cannot stand by and merely watch how they exploit people in poverty just to profit while allowing others who are economically well off to benefit from this, he added.

In countries like the Ukraine, Switzerland, Russia, and even Malaysia, harvesting human fetuses for stem cell transplant has become so prevalent that even normal healthy babies are being used to generate the cells that are supposed to make older people look and feel younger, he said.

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PH stem cell society warns: Stem cells in some anti-aging procedures came from aborted babies abroad