Bishops denounce the use of tax dollars to destroy human lives in embryonic stem cell research
Washington (Agenzia Fides) – Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has issued a statement calling President Obama's executive order on embryonic stem cell research "a sad victory of politics over science and ethics." For the first time in U.S. history, federal tax dollars will be used to encourage researchers to destroy live human embryos for stem cell research. The Cardinal says that Obama's decision “ is morally wrong because it encourages the destruction of innocent human life, treating vulnerable human beings as mere products to be harvested. It also disregards the values of millions of American taxpayers who oppose research that requires taking human life.” Moreover, the text continues, “it ignores the fact that ethically sound means for advancing stem cell science and medical treatments are readily available and in need of increased support.”The USCCB statement also cites the recent January 16 letter written by Cardinal Francis George, President of the USCCB, in which he offers three reasons for which this kind of research, now encouraged by Obama, is unnecessary and immoral. Among these is the fact that advances in adult stem cell research appears “to be making embryonic stem cells irrelevant to medical progress,” as adult and cord blood stem cells “are now known to have great versatility, and are increasingly being used to reverse serious illnesses and even help rebuild damaged organs.”“If the government wants to invest in hope for cures and promote ethically sound science, it should use our tax monies for research that everyone, at every stage of human development, can live with,” the statement concludes. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 10/3/2009)
Pope Benedict XVI recently said: “Every human being, then, is much more than a singular combination of genetic information that is transmitted to him by his parents. The generation of man can never be reduced to the mere reproduction of a new individual of the human species, as is the case with all other animals. Every appearance of a person in the world is always a new creation. If we want to enter into the mystery of human life, then it is necessary that no science isolate itself, pretending to have the last word.”
Washington (Agenzia Fides) – Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has issued a statement calling President Obama's executive order on embryonic stem cell research "a sad victory of politics over science and ethics." For the first time in U.S. history, federal tax dollars will be used to encourage researchers to destroy live human embryos for stem cell research. The Cardinal says that Obama's decision “ is morally wrong because it encourages the destruction of innocent human life, treating vulnerable human beings as mere products to be harvested. It also disregards the values of millions of American taxpayers who oppose research that requires taking human life.” Moreover, the text continues, “it ignores the fact that ethically sound means for advancing stem cell science and medical treatments are readily available and in need of increased support.”The USCCB statement also cites the recent January 16 letter written by Cardinal Francis George, President of the USCCB, in which he offers three reasons for which this kind of research, now encouraged by Obama, is unnecessary and immoral. Among these is the fact that advances in adult stem cell research appears “to be making embryonic stem cells irrelevant to medical progress,” as adult and cord blood stem cells “are now known to have great versatility, and are increasingly being used to reverse serious illnesses and even help rebuild damaged organs.”“If the government wants to invest in hope for cures and promote ethically sound science, it should use our tax monies for research that everyone, at every stage of human development, can live with,” the statement concludes. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 10/3/2009)
Pope Benedict XVI recently said: “Every human being, then, is much more than a singular combination of genetic information that is transmitted to him by his parents. The generation of man can never be reduced to the mere reproduction of a new individual of the human species, as is the case with all other animals. Every appearance of a person in the world is always a new creation. If we want to enter into the mystery of human life, then it is necessary that no science isolate itself, pretending to have the last word.”
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