CONNECTICUT CATHOLIC ADVOCACY NETWORK 

                                   NEWSLETTER  06/17/2008
 

This newsletter is a summary of various church, state and national news
items of interest to Catholics throughout Connecticut.  The newsletter is 
produced by the Connecticut Catholic Conference.  

United States Catholic Bishops Release Statement on Embryonic Stem Cell Research 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a statement on June 13, 2008 outlining the Church's position on stem cell research. The statement condemns embryonic stem cell research as "a gravely immoral act", since it involves the destruction of human embryos. They do, however, fully support adult stem cell research which does not involve the destruction of human life and has shown great promise for curing many human illnesses. Adult stem cell research is a term used to describe stem cell research that uses non-embryonic stem cells (umbilical cord blood, cells from placenta, stem cells already existing in a person's own body).

STATE OF CONNECTICUT FUNDING

In 2005 the Connecticut General Assembly committed spending $100 million dollars on stem cell research, primarily embryonic stem cell research. So far $30 million dollars of the funds have be awarded, primarily to institutions of higher learning, such as UConn and Yale.  The Connecticut Catholic Conference strongly opposed this legislation. The State should be expending these funds in the field of adult stem cell research.

It is important to note that most of the progress made in the stem cell research field has been in the area of  adult stem cell research.  Embryonic stem cell research is lagging very far behind. Morally acceptable cures to serious illnesses appear more and more likely to be found in the field of adult stem cell research. More information on stem cell research can be found on the Connecticut Catholic Conference website under the Topics section.


  CLICK HERE TO READ THE BISHOPS STATEMENT ON EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH

1. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been prominent in the national debate on this issue for many years, and Conference officials have offered public statements, testimony and letters to Congress on it. Many individual bishops and state conferences of bishops have also spoken out, especially in the context of state legislation and ballot initiatives. 

 

2. The Church’s moral position against destroying human embryos for research is also stated briefly in other documents by the full body of bishops (e.g., Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (Nov. 2007), nos. 23, 44, 64 and 90). But this will be the first formal statement exclusively on this issue to be voted on by all Catholic bishops of the United States.

 

3. The bishops authorized the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities to prepare this statement at its November 2007 general meeting. At that time the bishops also approved the Committee’s proposal to prepare a longer and more pastoral document, directed especially to Catholic engaged and married couples, explaining the Catholic Church’s objection to reproductive technologies such as “in vitro fertilization” that produce human embryos in the laboratory. The bishops will consider that pastoral document at a later date.

 

4. The statement on embryonic stem cell research addresses the question whether researchers, with or without government funds, are ethically justified in destroying human embryos to obtain stem cells for research and possible future treatments.  The bishops firmly answer this question in the negative, respond to several arguments used in the public debate to justify such destruction, and explain how an initial decision to destroy so-called “spare” embryos for this research leads to far broader ethical abuses, including new risks to women of child-bearing age.

 

5. The bishops enter this debate primarily as moral teachers. Therefore the statement focuses especially on the intrinsic moral wrong of destroying innocent human life at any stage, whatever the hoped-for benefit may be. It addresses this argument to all people of good will, including U.S. policy makers. The statement mentions, but does not dwell on, advances in treatments using adult stem cells and the recent breakthrough in reprogramming adult cells to produce “embryonic-like” stem cells, which underscore how the alleged benefits of embryonic stem cell research can be pursued without creating serious moral problems.

 

6. The theme of morally acceptable alternatives is highlighted in three educational resources to be released this summer: (a) A 16-minute video, “Stem Cell Research: Finding Cures We Can All Live With,” produced by SaintMax Video with assistance from the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities; (b) an updated parish bulletin insert, “Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning: Questions and Answers,” first produced in 2004; and (c) a brochure, “Stem Cells and Hope for Patients,” by Maureen Condic, Ph.D., to be distributed to dioceses in July as part of our annual Respect Life Program educational series. The bishops’ statement also lists web sites giving up-to-date details on advances in non-embryonic stem cell research and clinical trials.

 

7. The statement was planned and drafted before the 2008 election year and without reference to any particular political development. However, it is especially timely in light of the expected renewal of the national debate on this issue in 2009 with a new Congress and new President.