Ever heard of March of Dimes? March of Dimes is a charity dedicated to improving the health of babies and preventing birth defects, premature birth, and still birth. The way that March of Dimes prevents these awful occurrences in babies is through research. Through research, scientists do experiments and tests on many animals. Many people would say that it really is necessary for scientists to do these things to deem things safe for humans. Several other people would probably say that these animals were treated humanely and put down humanely. These people might be very, very wrong.
In doing my own research about March of Dimes’ experiments on animals, I came across several examples of experiments that scientists for March of Dimes are performing on kittens, guinea pigs, rats, pigs, and even chimps. Although asked by many animal activist groups to stop testing on animals, March of Dimes has refused to stop research on any animal species. I’ll let you be the judge of how necessary you think some of these experiments are:
- March of Dimes gave money to Oregon Regional Primate Research Center to cause uterine infections in healthy pregnant monkeys to trigger premature labor. Researchers insert cables into the monkeys’ uteruses and into the bodies of the babies. When the baby monkeys were born, they were killed immediately for further study, despite the fact that physicians almost everywhere have known for decades that such uterine infections are already linked to premature birth.
- In 1997 and 1998, March of Dimes funded experiments where pregnant lambs were forced to have premature birth. The baby lambs then had their breathing mechanically manipulated, causing severe damage to their new born lungs. The lambs were killed shortly after the experiment concluded.
- March of Dimes injected pregnant rats with cocaine. They injected newborn opossums with alcohol, decapitated them an hour to 32 weeks later, then removed and studied the gonads. The dangers to both cocaine and alcohol in babies is already well known.
The list goes on to crueler experiments that even you may not be able to wrap your head around. Aside from the fact that these experiments are unnecessary, they may not seem to be helping any. Despite these experiments, the Centers for Disease Control reports that birth defects are occurring more often. Of 38 birth defects studied over a 10-year period, an astounding 27 have increased in frequency, nine occur at the same rate, and only two have decreased in frequency. So why the hell are these test still going on?
While it is true that all animals are capable beings of feeling pain, but the similarities between us and them end there. Testing chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, and addictive substances on pregnant animals and their babies and then trying to apply that to humans is a waste of lives and money because we really are far too different to compare to them.
You have to take a look at the big picture. Understand that the people running these research experiments may have their own valid reasons within their skewed thinking. Perhaps they really do believe that these animal tests will save lives.
Consider this though: Humans have a longer period of fetal development, so may be more sensitive to birth defect-causing agents than other species. Genetic differences among species of animals affect the way they react to chemicals. Stress imposed by animal handling, food or water deprivation, and restraint have been shown to affect test results. Finally consider that animals learn and show intelligence differently from humans, and animal studies usually cannot detect a substance's potential for causing learning or behavioral problems in babies. I ask again: Why are these tests still going on? The problem with these animal tests is that they seem to be hardly ever accurate In the 1950s, the dangers of thalidomide had shown to be non existent in animals, but caused extreme physical deformities in pregnant women’s babies. I leave you with this last fact and a video to follow: Alcohol abuse during pregnancy is the major leading cause of preventable birth defects. There are not enough affordable addiction treatment programs for women seeking help, while precious resources are being wasted injecting rats and other animals with alcohol.
Seeing as this was a blog for my Mass Communications class, I didn't reflect on this as much as I would have liked to...I'm completely against the happenings. I don't condone any of the tests that March of Dimes does and am not a supporter what so ever of March of Dimes. Their mission is good, but their experiments and research are not. It's one thing to make your entire charity into something amazing for mothers and babies everywhere, but what if they all knew how many animals you were decapitating and cutting up into bits while still alive? What if they knew? What if everyone knew all the facts? I hope one day everyone does. Like the guy at the end of this video says " Isn't it time we marched to a different beat? "
