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The WORLD STEM CELL SUMMIT starts today in Detroit University of Michigan
Archbishop Allen Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit and Dr. Eva Feldman, Director of the Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan
The Archbishop toed the usual Catholic line of an embryo is a potential human life and therefore cannot be destroyed or used for experimentation. He equates an in-vivo (in the body) embryo with that of an embryo in a Petri dish.
The reality about embryos is that due to in-vitro (test tube) fertilization procedures which are quite common today, excess embryos (tens of thousands) are destroyed by throwing them in the trash or washing them down the drain, on a regular basis; no one seems to mind that.
The Catholic Church cannot alter its stance on this issue; it has painted itself into a corner. The fact that stem cell research will be used to save lives and is therefore a pro-life effort holds no water with the Church; its all about what they think is pro-life or, I guess, life in general.
The Archbishop bases his argument on a law that makes it a crime to hurt or kill a fetus (embryo) during an assault, while an assault on an embryo in a Petri dish is not a crime.
I will say that the Archbishop prefaces his remarks by acknowledging that great strides are being made in medical science to hasten cures for some of our most debilitating diseases but he stops at the use of embryos which he calls our citizens-to-be which they are not since the cells used for research cannot grow into a person.
I too believe life is precious and should be preserved as best we can by making it possible for people to live long, healthy, productive lives.
As to embryos and our human reproduction model, well, Mother Nature has given us a way to reproduce that has worked well for thousands if not millions of years and will continue to work into the future as millions of new human beings are created BUT do not equate our reproductive process with the life of an existing human being; one is a bunch of cells and the other a living human being.
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