The Bishop Writes

(From the Aug. 23, 2001 edition of the Inland Register)

The Catholic Church’s stance concerning respect for human life has been consistent and prophetic. We in the Church have always believed that human life from the moment of conception until natural death is a precious gift that must not be purposely violated by human intervention or experimentation causing death. The embryo in the earliest days of its existence already is a marvel of complexity and potential. This small and extremely vulnerable speck of human existence is not any less precious or valuable.

The Catholic Church supports stem cell research — but not embryonic stem cell research. President Bush’s decision is commendable insofar as he denies federal funding for cloning and for further destruction of human embryos. His permission for funding research on existing stem cell lines violates the Catholic Church’s stance of respecting human life in the embryonic stage.

Perhaps an even more basic problem we are facing in society is the terrible anti-life consequences of in-vitro fertilization. There are approximately 250,000 frozen embryos worldwide, 150,000 of them in the United States.

Finally, some people ask how the Church could stand in the way of research on embryos — research that could possibly be of tremendous assistance in counteracting many diseases and afflictions.

First of all, the effectiveness of such research is still hypothetical. Secondly, there are other ways of obtaining stem cells — for instance, from adults, or from umbilical cords. One scientist says these possibly might even be preferable to embryonic stem cells for research.

Given the complexity of issues involved, this especially is a time of not compromising our values toward respect for human life. Rather, it is a time of upholding our reverence and respect for every person, no matter what stage of life he or she may be in. We need to continue to build up the culture of life, not weaken it.

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