PHILADELPHIA, Mar. 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- The National Catholic Bioethics Center received with dismay the news of President Barack Obama's executive order to allow citizens' tax dollars to be used to support research that requires the destruction of human embryos in the name of speculative scientific research.
Historically, the government has never permitted the use of federal funds for research on human subjects if it was not for their benefit. Congress extended the same protection to the embryo and fetus as to any other human subject of research. Since 1975 Congress has refused to allow federal funds to be used for research on unborn children at any stage of their development. In 1985 Congress amended the National Institutes of Health reauthorization act to make it clear that the prohibition of the use of federal funds for research on human subjects was "the same for fetuses which are intended to be aborted and fetuses which are intended to be carried to term" (42 USC §289g). In 1996 Congress passed legislation to provide the same protections to the embryo. The Dickey Amendment states that federal funds are not to be used for engendering human embryos for research purposes or for research in which embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero. The ban defined "human embryo" as including any organism that is derived by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human gametes (sperm or egg.). The fact that the embryos engendered by their parents are not wanted, in no way lessens their innate dignity. The government must maintain a posture of respect towards human life by not allowing tax payers' money to be used for research involving the destruction of human beings. It cannot single out certain lives as somehow uniquely suited for harmful or destructive research.
The National Catholic Bioethics Center supports stem cell research which respects innate human dignity. However, this new Obama policy constitutes a misuse of public money for immoral research that has not yielded one single clinical benefit. In fact embryonic stem cell therapy is known to cause tumors and tissue rejection. Recent advances have obviated the need for destroying human embryos to access pluripotent stem cells. Scientists have demonstrated that they can reprogram ordinary human skin cells into pluripotent stems cells which will not cause tumors or rejection. There are several ethical stem cell research alternatives that already have successfully treated thousands of patients. By using adult sources of stem cells (including umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid and placental sources) it has been possible to treat, and sometimes even cure, numerous maladies and pathologies, from spinal cord injury to cardiac disease, pediatric brain tumors to cerebral palsy, to the widely-known successes in blood diseases.
Each of us was once an embryo. Science makes it clear that from fertilization a new human being exists, distinct from the father or mother, with his or her own internal principle directed toward continuing development towards adulthood. Thus, he/she is a bearer of human rights, with intrinsic dignity which outweighs any utilitarian consideration. Providing public funding to support research on cells obtained through the destruction of human beings, especially at their most vulnerable stages, is an affront to the dignity of all persons, and beneath the moral stature of the United States of America.
A humane policy of prohibition on the use of federal funds for destructive research on innocent human beings has been in place throughout our history until now. However, even it was inadequate. There should be federal laws protecting all human beings from the first moment of their existence.
