Download What Every Catholic Should Know About Stem Cell Research Stem

If these “excess” embryos will
be destroyed anyway, why not
use them for research?
Human embryos are human beings
and therefore possess the same
sacred dignity as any other human
beings (e.g. infants, adolesce n t s ,
adults). There are probably
hundreds of thousands of people
who are currently terminally ill and
will die soon. The likelihood that
these human beings will die s o o n
anyway would not legitimize killing
them for medical research, even if it
could help cure other people.
Simi larly, the likelihood that
embryonic human beings may die
soon does not make it acceptable to
kill them for the benefit of others.
What does President Bush’s
stem cell decision mean?
On August 9, 2001 President Bush
announced that he will allow limited federal
funding of embryonic stem cell research. No
funding will be allowed for research that
involves the future destruction of human
embryos. That’s good. The President
deserves credit for prohibiting, at least for
now, the use of taxpayer dollars for research
that directly destroys human embryos.
But the President will allow funding of
research on more than 60 existing stem cell
lines [a cell line is basically a culture of cells
that continues to grow on its own]
that were created from human embryos destroyed
specifically for the purpose of creating these stem cell
lines. That’s bad. The President’s rationale is that
since these embryos have already been destroyed and
the cell lines do not require any further killing, it is
morally defensible to fund research on these cell lines.
But there are serious moral concerns about funding
these existing stem cell lines even though their use does
not require further destruction of human embryos.
First, it is quite likely that even limited government
funding of this research might encourage more killing of
embryos for more such research by privately funded
companies by: [a] removing some of its ethical stigma,
and [b] providing the “seed money” for the early, nonprofitable stages of the research. Second, scientists will
undoubtedly continue to destroy additional embryos
(and create new cell lines) with private funds and if
these 60 existing lines prove inadequate these scientists
will recommend that these new cell lines be used for
federally funded research. Under the President’s
current rationale, it will be difficult for him to reject
these new cell lines since the embryos used to create
the cell line “have already been destroyed.” finally, it is
possible that the research on these existing stem cell
lines could result in therapies or cures that rely upon
the destruction of more embryos. Thus, taxpayer
funding of existing stem cell lines is scandalous (and
immoral) because it will likely lead to the killing of more
human embryos. Further, there are even moral
concerns about spending taxpayer dollars on existing
stem cell lines that were created by destroying human
embryos solely for the purpose of research. This will
spread an already pervasive view that it is permissible to
destroy some human beings for the benefit of other
human beings.
For more in-depth information check out these
websites: www.usccb.org/prolife/bioethic or
www.stemcellresearch.org or www.bioethix.org or
contact Greg Schleppenbach, Bishops’ Pastoral Plan for
Pro Life Activities, 215 Centennial Mall South, Ste. 410,
Lincoln, NE 69508, 402.477.7517,
[email protected]
DIOCESE OF ORLANDO
RESPECT LIFE OFFICE
What Every Catholic
Should Know About
Stem Cell Research
PO Box 1800
Orlando, Florida 32802
407.246-4819 or 407.246-4942 Fax
[email protected]
What are stem cells and why
are they important?
Human stem cells are the “master”
cells of the human body, giving rise to
all the body’s more specialized cells
and tissues. Stem cells are found from
the beginning of embryonic
development throughout adult life.
Human stem cells are important, first,
because they are responsible for
bodily development in the unborn
and for maintaining health and life in
born human beings and, second,
because of their potential therapeutic
uses. Human stem cells could be
made into therapies—cell and tissue
transplants—that could cure the
donor or other people with
degenerative diseases such as arthritis,
diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s and
Alzheimer’s, diseases that result from
abnormal cell division or cell death.
Is the Church opposed to
all stem cell research?
The Church supports research using
what are generally called “adult” stem
cells derived from newborns or adults
because obtaining these cells does not
harm or destroy the human donor.
Adult stem cells have been successfully
obtained from sources such as umbilical
cord blood (following birth) and skin,
bone marrow and even fat cells from
adults. Adult stem cells and other
ethically acceptable alternatives have
already helped hundreds of thousands
of patients, including those with
juvenile diabetes, spinal cord injury
immune deficiency, and visual
impairment, and new clinical uses
expand almost weekly. The Church is
opposed to the use of stem cells
obtained from human embryos because
the process of deriving the stem cells
destroys the embryo. To date,
embryonic stem cells have neither
helped a single human patient nor
demonstrated any therapeutic benefit.
What is a human embryo
and where do scientists get
these embryos for
research?
According to the embryology textbook
used at the University of Nebraska
Medical Center (and most embryology
textbooks), “Human development is a
continuous process that begins when
an [egg] from a female is fertilized by a
sperm...from a male.” The resulting
cell, a zygote or embryo, according to
the textbook “is the beginning of a new
human being” and “marked the
beginning of each of us as a unique
individual.” (Moore and Persaud, The
Developing Human: Clinically Oriented
Embryology. 6th edition, 1998 pg 2 and
18). Thus, as a member of our human
family, the human embryo, like the
human fetus, infant, adolescent and
adult is a human being whose right to
life is inviolable and not to be denied
even if the destruction of that human
embryo could bring benefit to other
human beings. The human embryos
killed for their stem cells are about 5days old and have grown to about 200
cells. Most of the embryos obtained for
stem cell research in the United States
come from in vitro fertilization (IVF)
clinics. In these clinics, human embryos
are produced in petri dishes, then
implanted in the wombs of women who
are experiencing difficulty getting
pregnant. Typically, more embryos are
produced than are initially transferred
into the woman’s uterus. These
“excess” human embryos are frozen and
stored for future pregnancy attempts.
Or, if no more children are desired, the
couple may have the embryos destroyed
or donate them to science where they
will be destroyed as part of research.
The Catholic Church teaches that in
vitro fertilization and other
reproductive technologies that replace
the marital act are contrary to God’s
design for procreation and are
therefore immoral.