U.S. Bishops Issue Statement Rejecting Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 18 Jun 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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In its first formal statement exclusively on human embryonic stem cell research, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday explicitly opposed the research, AFP/Google.com reports. "The false assumption that a good end can justify direct killing has been the source of much evil in our world," the statement says, adding, "[W]e insist there is no human being, however small or seemingly insignificant, who does not matter to God" (AFP/Google.com, 6/13). The statement adds, "Ultimately, each of us will die, but that gives no one a right to kill us."

The bishops said proposals to use embryos for stem cell research -- embryos originally created during fertility treatments that otherwise would be discarded -- would "lea[d] to far broader abuses, including human cloning and new risks to women." Cloning embryos for stem cell research would "inevitably facilitate attempts to produce live-born cloned children" and would reduce humans to "commodities," according to the bishops (Zoll, AP/Google.com, 6/13).

"It now seems undeniable that once we cross the fundamental moral line that prevents us from treating any fellow human being as a mere object of research, there is no stopping point," the statement said, adding, "The only moral stance that affirms the human dignity of all of us is to reject the first step down this path" (AFP/Google.com, 6/13). The bishops said the church does not object to the use of stem cells from adult tissues and umbilical cord blood, or other research that "involves no harm to human beings at any stage of development."

The document -- which the bishops adopted during their midyear meeting in Orlando, Fla., by a 191-1 vote -- does not contain any new teachings. The bishops said it was issued to clear confusion on Catholic beliefs, particularly during an election year in which candidates will debate embryonic stem cell research. Archbishop Joseph Naumann from Kansas City, Kan. -- a member of the group's Committee on Pro-Life Activities -- said, "Certainly, we hope it would be a document that would be taken seriously by all policymakers" (AP/Google.com, 6/13).

Opinion Piece

The Catholic Church has a long history of being at the forefront of scientific progress, and church teachings "not only allow but encourage adherents to the Catholic faith to support and promote scientific discovery," Catholics for Choice president Jon O'Brien writes in an Orlando Sentinel opinion piece. According to O'Brien, the Catechism -- "one of the central documents in Catholic teaching" -- states, "Methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of the faith derive from the same God."

Although governments and scientists declare that stem cell research is ethical and consistent with contemporary morality, O'Brien writes that the Catholic hierarchy continues to place "religious dogma at the center of its public-policy pronouncements" instead of "scientific reasoning." O'Brien concludes that the bishops should consider following in the "footsteps" of the Catholic scientist John Rock, co-inventor of the birth control pill, who "used his expertise to promote life and the dignity of the individual" (O'Brien, Orlando Sentinel, 6/13).

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