Heloisa Sabin

About the author: Heloisa Sabin is the honorary director of Americans for Medical Progress, an organization that believes animal experimentation is necessary for medical research. She is also the widow of Albert Sabin, the scientist who developed a polio vaccine in 1957.

While perfecting his vaccine against polio, Albert Sabin conducted tests on many animals. The sacrifice of these animals has enabled entire generations of humans to grow up without fear of the crippling effects of polio. Animal rights advocates who see animal experimentation as cruel and wasteful overlook the fact that it has been instrumental in developing medicines that have saved countless human lives.

That scene in "Forrest Gump," in which young Forrest runs from his schoolmate tormentors so fast that his leg braces fly apart and his strong legs carry him to safety may be...