June 13, 2008
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today reaffirmed its rejection of embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue called on Catholics to support the vote that was taken today in Florida:
"It is important for all Catholics to acknowledge that the first and most important issues affecting public policy are the life issues. To maintain that other issues are the moral equivalent of matters like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and direct euthanasia, is to denigrate the privileged position that the life issues have in Catholic teachings.
"The bishops referred to the harvesting of embryonic stem cells as 'the deliberate killing of innocent human beings, a gravely immoral act.' They also said that 'Human cloning is intrinsically evil,' something which 'shows disrespect for human life in the very act of generating it.' These words were chosen carefully, and they reflect the sentiments of Pope Benedict XVI who recently said abortion was a 'non-negotiable' issue for Catholics.
"The life issues, then, are of preeminent importance to Catholics. To discuss social justice, for example, while being dismissive of the life issues is profoundly un-Catholic."
