12/12/2008
Press release
Issued by the CBCEW (Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales)
Vatican releases document on bioethics
The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) today released Dignitas Personae, a document which addresses a range of issues including stem cell therapies, embryo experimentation and infertility treatments. It reaffirms the Vatican’s existing teachings, Donum Vitae (1987) and Evangelium Vitae (1995), and addresses new bioethical questions about issues such as hybrid embryos and human cloning. Dignitas Personae focuses on the dignity of the human embryo, and promotes biomedical research that is respectful of the dignity of every human being and procreation.
Key principles it uses to determine whether new biomedical research is ethical include:
• “‘The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from the same moment his or her rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.’” (Dignitas Personae, n.4)
• “The origin of human life has its authentic context in marriage and in the family, where it is generated through an act which expresses the reciprocal love between a man and a woman. Procreation which is truly responsible vis-à-vis the child to be born ‘must be the fruit of marriage’.” (Dignitas Personae, n.6)
• “[The Church] hopes moreover that the results of such research may also be made available in areas of the world that are poor and afflicted by disease, so that those who are most in need will receive humanitarian assistance.” (Dignitas Personae, n.3)
“The Bishops of England and Wales welcome this new Instruction on bioethics,” said the Most Reverend Peter Smith, Archbishop of Cardiff. “It affirms the Church’s support of ethical scientific research that seeks to cure disease and relieve suffering.” Dignitas Personae acknowledges the great strides biomedical research has made in the treatment of diseases and calls for more scientific development in areas such as adult stem cell research:
• “Methods which do not cause serious harm to the subject from whom the stem cells are taken are to be considered licit. This is generally the case when tissues are taken from: a) an adult organism; b) the blood of the umbilical cord at the time of birth; c) fetuses who have died of natural causes. The obtaining of stem cells from a living human embryo, on the other hand, invariably causes the death of the embryo and is consequently gravely illicit…” (Dignitas Personae, n. 32)
• “Research initiatives involving the use of adult stem cells, since they do not present ethical problems, should be encouraged and supported.” (Dignitas Personae, n. 32)
The Vatican’s comments about this issue are particularly timely given recent news reports of a woman in Spain whose trachea was repaired using adult stem cells. Other promising surgeries involving adult stem cell therapies were announced last week in Hanover, Germany to help stroke victims regain movement and speech and at Imperial College London to help heart attack patients. Archbishop Smith welcomed the development of these new adult stem cell therapies and called for more research in this area:
“These developments demonstrate the power of medical science and the potential of adult stem cells in curing diseases and relieving suffering,” said the Most Reverend Peter Smith, Archbishop of Cardiff. “We hope to see more research focusing on adult stem cells, as their use raises none of the problems created by embryonic stem cells which require the destruction of human embryos.”
Dignitas Personae recognises the important role that professionals in the biomedical community play in society:
“The Magisterium also seeks to offer a word of support and encouragement for the perspective on culture which considers science an invaluable service to the integral good of the life and dignity of every human being. The Church therefore views scientific research with hope and desires that many Christians will dedicate themselves to the progress of biomedicine and will bear witness to their faith in this field.” (Dignitas Personae, n.3)
Dignitas Personae also responds to new bioethical questions about hybrid embryos and human cloning:
Hybrid embryos
"From the ethical standpoint, such procedures represent an offense against the dignity of human beings on account of the admixture of human and animal genetic elements capable of disrupting the specific identity of man. The possible use of the stem cells, taken from these embryos, may also involve additional health risks, as yet unknown, due to the presence of animal genetic material in their cytoplasm. To consciously expose a human being to such risks is morally and ethically unacceptable.” (Dignitas Personae, n.33)
Human Cloning
“Human cloning is intrinsically illicit in that…it seeks to give rise to a new human being without a connection to the act of reciprocal self-giving between the spouses and, more radically, without any link to sexuality. This leads to manipulation and abuses gravely injurious to human dignity.” (Dignitas Personae, n.28)
The complete document can be accessed here
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Your assignment is to respond to this prompt in an 11 sentence paragraph format. Publish your response as a comment to this post. When stating your opinion with details and examples, consider divergent religious beliefs, government regulation of biomedical research, current "discoveries" in the areas of stem-cells, in-vitro fertilization, cloning etc.
“I (support / partially support / do not support) the Roman Catholic Church's positions stated in the Dignitas Personae because_____________"
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10 comments:
I partially agree with the Roman Catholic Church's stand on stem cell research. The idea that a stem cell that is not from a married family is irrelevant to me. The Church's traditional stand on children out of wedlock makes sense with this, but I don't believe that should be an obsticle in research development. I also disagree with the idea that aborted fetuses should not be used. I don't think it should be promoted but if the choice is made to abort the baby than the embryo should be able to go to good use. I do however agree that more should be put into adult stem cell research. This is a safer way that shows plenty of potential. The hybrid embryos is a terrible idea to me. This is degrading to the human race and can have unforseen consequences. Human cloning is also in the wrong to me. This is taking the technology too far in a world that is already on the brink of over-population. The Catholic Church is more accepting of scientific developments which will hopefully encourage more around the world to participate in this.
I support the Roman Catholic Church's positions stated in the Dignitas Personae because it fully agrees with my beliefs and views towards the advancement of certain biomedical creations, such as the use of adult and embryonic stem cells, to cure many diseases. To begin with, I agree with the Roman Catholic Church's position on its regard towards using resources that will not interfere or harm human life. For example, I see it completely wrong to use living embryo's stem cell casing them death. Or killing one human being just because they wanted to practice or use their stem cell to cure someone else. Second, on its regard to the cloning of any organism, it is very controversial. It would be cool to replicate oneself and have two of the exact same organism, yet it would ruin the entire meaning of normal reproduction. Also, it would distort the entire meaning of individuality that distinguishes each and every organism. Last, for my point of view biomedicine should be supported as long as it is for the better of man kind. It is okay for us to want to find the cure for many diseases and illnesses as long as it will have a positive impact on society. But, if the research puts in jeopardy the safety of others, then what is the point if we are helping some but harming others. Also, I agree with making these new advances reachable for every single human being, even if they live in the poorest of all countries, because the point of allowing that research is to help every human being on this planet. In conclusion, I fully agree with what the article "Dignitas Personae" states about the use of biomedicine in order to help cure many diseases and illnesses that make us all suffer.
i do not support the Roman Catholic Church's positions stated in the Dignitas Personae because i believe that we should continue stem cell research because it is saving thousands of lives. if the use of stem cell can repair a trachea and help stroke victims regain movement and speech and to help heart attack patients, then its worth doing. The quote “These developments demonstrate the power of medical science and the potential of adult stem cells in curing diseases and relieving suffering,” said the Most Reverend Peter Smith, Archbishop of Cardiff. “We hope to see more research focusing on adult stem cells, as their use raises none of the problems created by embryonic stem cells which require the destruction of human embryos.” says it all and i agree with it 100%.
I partially support Dignitas Personae because I share many of the views expressed. Most importantly cloning is wrong. For the fact that someone can clone themselves just for when and if they get sick they can take an organ or blood. Secondly, cloning is wrong because it devalues the life of a person and there uniqueness is compromised with the likes of another person. With hybrid cloning I partially support the Dignitas Personae. I believe that using animal genes in human embryos is wrong because it changes the human genome. I believe that only with certain circumstances is it acceptable. I disagree with the Roman Catholic views on in-vitro fertilization being wrong. I believe that there are many people who don't deserve to have children yet still do, so why is it wrong for those who want to, and would love and care for them, to have children no matter the means? Therefore if in-vitro fertilization is the only means to which a couple can have a child, I believe it should be allowed and is morally correct. All in all, I mostly support the Dignitas Personae.
I only partially agree with the position of the Roman Catholic Church. There are several perspectives on the stem cell issue that I whole-heartedly agree with and some that I disagree with quite strongly. I am all for the idea of furthering research into the application of adult stem cells. The gathering of these cells does not harm the source, yet provides uses such as those used to repair the trachea of the lady mentioned in the article. I do, however, disagree with a couple of the points of source dispute from the Church. I believe that unless the fetus is alive and is going to be born and not aborted, stem cells should be extracted. Ambilical chord tissues and that of dead or aborted fetuses should be used, seeing as the alternative to this is destruction of the genetic material. The issue of wedlock fetus material being used is of little importance to me, life happens like that sometimes.
I am also against the idea of human cloning. Several of my ideas coincide with some, but not all of the views of the Church. “Human cloning is intrinsically illicit in that…it seeks to give rise to a new human being without a connection to the act of reciprocal self-giving between the spouses...This leads to manipulation and abuses gravely injurious to human dignity.” (Dignitas Personae, n.28)
I completely agree with the position that genetic manipulation will only result in the development of "humans" that are just another attempt at a Supreme Race, and more likely an attempt to make weapons of these creations.
I’m partially in favor of the Dignitas Personae because I do disagree with the Catholic Church in restricting the use of the embryos to research on them, because even one fetus might give someone else the possibility to live a normal life. It’s also giving the possibility to even create life because I think it is unfair to be denied the opportunity to have a child of your own only because “God said you couldn’t” that’s wrong! My opinion is, scientists work very hard to create new ways to help people live, why not use them? I do disagree with human cloning, every individual is a unique form of life and by cloning it would be like searching for the perfect ‘species’ we are perfect already because all of us are so different yet we still have so many things in common it would be extremely monotonous and sad to see the entire world to be one way or another. So yes I am in favor or researching in human embryos because if we did not put them to use they would be discarded anyway so might as well just use them for something beneficial.
I partially agree with the Roman Catholic Church's stated positions stated in the Dignitas Personae because some of their views agree with my own views but some contradict them. I believe that embryos should be considered "alive" only when conceived through marriage and love. If not, then the option of abortion should be allowed. The aborted fetus should then be used for stem cell research. The idea of using adult stem cells should be put into further research as well. It would be beneficial because of how limited the supply of embryonic stem cell is. It also wouldn't fringe on the religious views of people. I agree with the hybrid embryo point. I find it completely unethical. Mixing humans with animals is wrong beyond all belief. The Catholic Churches views and mine are similar in some ways and different in others.
I am on the fence with this one, many religions have often interfered with the advances of science, I think that if science had ever truly interfered with religion, then this would be a problem. I've never really heard of any incident of these two parties colliding.
But back onto the subject, I strongly disagree that aborted fetuses should not be used in stem cell research, although I think it is inhumane to have an abortion, it is not my decision to make women get them, so ate least put the fetuses to a good use... Matt Hagen
I some what agree with the points made in the Roman Catholic Church's Dignitas Personae. I disagree with Dignitas Personae n.6 which states that a child should only be born if a couple is married. This seems irrelivant, it shouldn't matter if a couple is married to have kids as long as they will care and love the child things should be alright. I'm taking "The Greatetest"'s side on the fact that aborted fetuses should be used for research. As long as the choice is still availabel it should be made to benifit society. I agree that more research should be done in adult stem cell research. There has been some good results using them like helping stroke victims become mobile again. As far as combining human and animal DNA that's going to far. It could have very bad consequences like introducing a new disease. And human cloning as cool as that sounds it's something that shouldn't be done. A person is unique and extremly complex, creating clones would be like creating empty shells. E.Olivas
I agree with The Greatest.
Anytime someone makes the choice of abortion, the fetus should definitely be put to good use. The destroying of the fetus seems more immoral to me than using it for research which could potentially advance the human race.
However, i do believe that cloning is somewhat of a good idea. Cloning would allow more resources for transplants to save human lives.
Joe Kimbrough
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