AMERICA/URUGUAY - Church call law permitting embryonic stem-cell research "a new serious attack on human life and dignity"
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Montevideo (Agenzia Fides) – Archdiocese of Montevideo is calling the draft bill of the Uruguayan government that would permit embryonic stem-cell research, "a new serious attack on human life and dignity, an act in contrary to the values of the Church," says spokesman Miguel Angel Pastorino. It also states that "the Church is not against using stem cells for research, as it has been shown that it can offer many health benefits, however she does oppose the use of human embryos for this purpose."
The draft bill in question was presented last year by the National Donation and Transplants Institute (INDT) and modified in recent months by Senators, along with the Public Health Department (MSP). The bill was first voted on in the Health Commission, with a unanimous vote in its favor. The same occurred in the Senate this past week. The bill passed to the House of Representatives, which has until September 15 until it is given the final vote. The bill would have to be passed in both the Senate and the House, which in other important issues, like abortion, did not receive support from the country's President Tabare Vazquez, himself of medical doctor, who vetoed that bill (see Fides 14/11/2008 and 19/11/2008).
The bill would regulate all activity related to obtaining and using human cells. This includes donation, obtaining, preparation, processing, genetic modification, preservation, storage, transport, movement in and out of the country, distribution, supply, implantation, discarding of cells and tissues. The draft bill includes an ethical guideline. In the third article, it states that the donation and reception of cells should have the aim of preserving or improving the quality of human life "not for profit." And it adds that the cells conserved for donation in public and private banks are "a good for the community" and their "ultimate end" will be determined by "the institutional needs." It states that professionals who violate the law will removed from the exercise of their profession, for a period of six months to five years, regardless of the penalty that corresponds.
The Archdiocesan John Paul II Bioethics Institute, of the Archdiocese of Montevideo, has issued a statement on the dangers of the bill, affirming that it "implicitly allows the destruction of human embryos in order to obtain stem cells, thus violating the first of all human rights: the right to life." The institute says that, from a scientific point of view, there is no doubt that the embryo is a member of the human species, "a human being." "From there, we can deduce that treating it as a mere object, a mere provider of stem cells that can be sacrificed supposedly for the good of other people, is a severe ethical fault. The ends do not justify the means, especially when a human life is at stake," the statement says. It also points out that in spite of the "great number of human embryos that have been destroyed," until now, not one has been successful in curing "one single patient since this deplorable practice began."
The institute trusts in the fact that "an attentive study of these ethical considerations will lead legislators to rectify the draft bill during its next review in the House of Representatives, so that a new serious attack on human life and dignity may not be introduced into national law." The members of the institute are also preparing another statement, on freezing embryos.
(RG) (Agenzia Fides 23/7/2009)
