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EXECUTIVE ORDER ON EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS ‘A SAD VICTORY OF POLITICS
OVER SCIENCE AND ETHICS,’ SAYS CARDINAL RIGALI
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Justin
Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’
Committee on Pro-Life Activities, today called President Obama’s
executive order on embryonic stem cell research “a sad victory of
politics over science and ethics.” Under the order, for the first
time in U.S. history, federal tax dollars will be used to encourage
researchers to destroy live human embryos for stem cell research.
Cardinal Rigali also cited a January 16 letter in which Cardinal
Francis George, president of the USCCB, urged President-elect Obama
not to issue such an order. Cardinal Rigali’s statement follows:
“President Obama’s new executive
order on embryonic stem cell
research is a sad victory of
politics over science and
ethics. This action is morally wrong
because it encourages the
destruction of innocent human life,
treating vulnerable human beings as
mere products to be harvested. It
also disregards the values of
millions of American taxpayers who
oppose research that requires taking
human life. Finally, it ignores the
fact that
ethically sound means for
advancing stem cell science and
medical treatments are readily
available and in need of increased
support.
“In his January 16th
letter to President-elect Obama,
Cardinal George, writing as
President of the USCCB, cited three
reasons why such destructive
research is ‘especially pointless at
this time’:
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‘First, basic research in the capabilities of embryonic stem cells
can be and is being pursued using the currently eligible cell lines
as well as the hundreds of lines produced with nonfederal funds
since 2001.
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‘Second, recent startling advances in reprogramming adult cells into
embryonic-like stem cells – hailed by the journal
"Science" as the scientific breakthrough of the year –
are said by many scientists to be making embryonic stem cells
irrelevant to medical progress.
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‘Third, adult and cord blood stem cells are now known to have great
versatility, and are increasingly being used to reverse serious
illnesses and even help rebuild damaged organs. To divert scarce
funds away from these promising avenues for research and treatment
toward the avenue that is most morally controversial as well as most
medically speculative would be a sad victory of politics over
science.’
“If the government wants to invest in hope for cures and promote
ethically sound science, it should use our tax monies for research
that everyone, at every stage of human development, can live with.”
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