Cardinal Pell blasts proposed embryo-research support
Dec 26, 2005
A report by an Australian government panel, recommending fewer restrictions on embryo research, is "out of step with human values," argued Cardinal George Pell of Sydney.
Sydney, Dec. 23 2005 (CWNews.com) - The fundamental error committed by the Lockhart Committee, the cardinal said, was that its report "takes it for granted that human embryos are merely a 'resource' to be exploited like an inferior animal or plant." He charged that the committee's report was intended "for the sole purpose of expanding experimental destruction of early human life for dubious medical purposes."
By allowing the creation of human embryos for research purposes, the Australian government would be "creating a new sub-class of humans," the cardinal said.
Cardinal Pell said that there is no public support for a policy that allows broad embryo research, and cited polling statistics that show 85 percent of Australians opposed to cloning. Yet the report would allow cloning for experimental purposes, he said.
The cardinal charged that the Lockhart Committee report was an effort to bring about a radical change in public moral standards. He said: "Practices surrounding the creation and destruction of human life which were unthinkable 3 years ago are now being dressed up as necessary and acceptable."
There is a morally acceptable alternative to human embryo research, Cardinal Pell observed. He pointed to successful efforts to produce stem-cells for research purposes from adult sources, without harming the human subjects.
Cardinal Pell blasts proposed embryo-research support