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Children of God for Life Responds: Setting
the Catholic Record Straight Cardinal McCarrick made the decision to allow
aborted fetal cell line research to continue at On Jan 30, 2004, the Washington Post reported that according to Fr. Kevin Fitzgerald and Dr. John Haas, National Catholic Bioethics Center, using these cell lines for research is acceptable because: 1) The researchers didn't know they originated in abortion. We refute the above as either gross misquotes by the newspaper or nothing more than personal opinion and certainly not as being that which is scientifically accurate or of sound Catholic Church doctrine. 1) The researchers
didn't know they originated in abortion These researchers are working on tissue and they don't know
its origin? There are hundreds of cell lines. Researchers typically decide which
cell line to
work with based in part on its origin. After all, you would hate to get a grant
for a project on kidney cells only to find out your secretary actually used the
funds to order lung tissue. But let's say she did order kidney tissue correctly.
Well, which tissue line? There are always concerns about a cell line's history -
how has it been used in the past, how stable is it, does it give reliable,
reproducible results, what is the genetic history, etc. In the normal course of
researching the line you want to use, you will certainly know its source – it
is documented. To say these researchers didn't know the source of the cell lines
they were using, especially in such an obviously important project would
certainly cast considerable doubt upon the reliability of research taking place
at This is patently false.
Any aborted fetus to be used in research must be pre-planned in order to
make arrangements to immediately preserve the organs and tissues.
Within the first five minutes of the death of the aborted fetus, cells
begin to deteriorate; within an hour they would be totally useless.
In addition, in the 3) The abortions which produced them happened 25 to 40 years ago Time does not diminish the evil of sin. If a sin is committed 5 minutes ago, 5 years ago or 50 years ago, it does not lessen the seriousness of whatever act was committed. We cite two interesting points in Catholic teaching to demonstrate how illogical Fr. Fitzgerald’s statement really is: a) If sin can be simply erased as time passes, why would anyone bother going to confession. Just wait long enough and the sin will go away all by itself. b) God did not punish mankind with the original sin of Adam and Eve for just a few centuries and then said, okay, that’s enough. From this point on, nobody bears the sin anymore. Let’s face it, I certainly did not eat that apple – I certainly did not want to disobey God – and as for my being related to Adam, well that is really a remote connection after all this time, right? Wrong. To God, a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day. An abortion committed 30 years ago was an act of evil then and an abortion done 3 minutes ago is an act of evil now. Sin is erased or diminished only by repentance and restoration of ill gotten goods. c) There is no
statute of limitations in civil law
for murder. The intentional killing
of an innocent preborn human being by abortion is to commit the sin of murder.
So why should anyone believe there is somehow a statute of limitations in
the moral law for the sin of murder?
d) Those who
experienced or understand the Holocaust know why Nazi criminals who collectively
killed millions of innocent human beings are still hunted and prosecuted in
courts around the world for those killings.
Just because those killings took place 50 years ago doesn’t diminish
the horror or injustice of those crimes against innocent human beings.
Would it be permissible to use the cell lines from the Holocaust victims
in experiments today? Or are we to
say that the children murdered in abortion are not entitled to the same respect
afforded to all human beings? Not only is such a statement scientifically false in that
there are superior, ethical alternatives to aborted fetal cell line research, it
is morally corrupt. One may never do evil that good may come of it –
regardless of the circumstances or the reasons.
This is not “new ground” for genuine Catholic moral theologians.
The Catholic Church does not ground Her moral teachings on any appeal to
bioethical utilitarian principles, where the ends justify the means.
The greater harm to society is to legitimize abortion and embryonic or
fetal tissue research The
greater harm to the Catholic Church is to undermine Her authority to speak out
against these issues. Further, any “proportionate” means must themselves be
in accord with Church teachings, e.g., as would the use of available non-aborted
embryonic and fetal cells in vaccine production. Therefore such research is
clearly prohibited in Catholic doctrine – past, present and future: a) "Catholic health care institutions should not make use of human
tissue obtained by direct abortions even for research and therapeutic
purposes." (Directive
66, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ethical and Religious Directives
for Catholic Health Care Services, b) “The second
topic of your meeting concerns Stem Cell Technology and Other Innovative
Therapies. Research in this field has understandably grown in importance in
recent years because of the hope it offers for the cure of ills affecting many
people. I have on other occasions stated that stem cells for purposes of
experimentation or treatment cannot come from human embryo tissue. I have
instead encouraged research on adult human tissue or tissue superfluous to
normal fetal development. Any treatment which claims to save human lives, yet is
based upon the destruction of human life in its embryonic state, is logically
and morally contradictory, as is any production of human embryos for the direct
or indirect purpose of experimentation or eventual destruction.” (Pope John
Paul II, Address to the c)“No objective, even though noble in itself, such as a foreseeable advantage to science, to other human beings or to society, can in any way justify experimentation on living human embryos or fetuses, whether viable or not, either inside or outside the mother's womb”. (Given at Rome, from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, February 22, 1987, Cardinal Ratzinger) d) “Although one must uphold as licit procedures carried
out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and
do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but rather are directed to its
healing, the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival,
it must nonetheless be stated that the use of human embryos or fetuses as an
object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human
beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as
to every person. This moral condemnation also regards procedures that exploit
living human embryos and fetuses -- sometimes specifically "produced"
for this purpose by in vitro fertilization -- either to be used as
biological material" or as providers of organs or tissue for transplants in
the treatment of certain diseases.” (Evangelium Vitae, 63 Mar. 1995) e) “The corpses of human embryos or fetuses, whether they have been deliberately aborted or not, must be respected just as the remains of other human beings Furthermore, the moral requirements must be safeguarded, that there be no complicity in deliberate abortion and that the risk of scandal be avoided” (I.4). Donum Vitae (Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation: Replies to Certain Questions of the Day). f) “Is it morally licit to use ES cells, and the differentiated cells obtained from them, which are supplied by other researchers or are commercially obtainable? The answer is
negative, since:
prescinding from the participation - formal or otherwise - in the morally
illicit intention of the principal agent, the case in question entails a
proximate material cooperation in the production and manipulation of human
embryos on the part of those producing or supplying them.” (Declaration
on the Production and The Scientific and The Therapeutic Use of Human Embryonic
Stem Cells, 5)
Investigators often must use aborted fetal cells to qualify for a grant In conclusion,
Catholic universities are called to a higher moral standard than those in the
secular world as we must constantly set the example for moral behavior and
intellectual development, without compromising the teachings of Christ and the
Church. Our Holy Father stated clearly that, “It is clear
that university centres that do not observe the law of the Church and the
teaching of the Magisterium, especially in the matter of bioethics, cannot be
considered as having the character of a Catholic university.... (4) Globalization is most often the result of economic
factors, which today more than ever shape political, legal and bioethical
decisions, frequently to the detriment of human and social concerns. The
university world should strive to analyze the factors underlying these decisions
and should in turn contribute to making them truly moral acts, acts worthy of
the human person. This means strongly emphasizing the centrality of the
inalienable dignity of the human person in scientific research and in social
policies. Through their activities, the professors and students of your
institutions are called to bear clear witness to their faith before the
scientific community, showing their commitment to the truth and their respect
for the human person. For Christians, research must in effect be undertaken in
the light of faith rooted in prayer, in listening to the word of God, in
Tradition and in the teaching of the Magisterium.” (Address
of John Paul II, To the International Congress, GLOBALIZATION AND THE As, Pope John Paul
II so clearly reminds us, it is the spiritual and moral dimension of society
that must be considered above all other aspects of any benefits that technology
may bring: "In the
world today, characterized by such rapid developments in science and technology,
the tasks of a Catholic university assume an ever greater importance and
urgency. Scientific and technological discoveries create an enormous economic
and industrial growth, but they also inescapably require the correspondingly
necessary search for meaning in order to guarantee that the new discoveries be
used for the authentic good of individuals and of human society as a whole. If
it is the responsibility of every university to search for such meaning, a
Catholic university is called in a particular way to respond to this need: Its
Christian inspiration enables it to include the moral, spiritual and religious
dimension in its research, and to evaluate the attainments of science and
technology in the perspective of the totality of the human person. In this context
Catholic universities are called to a continuous renewal, both as
"universities" and as "Catholic." For "what is at stake
is the very meaning of scientific and technological research, of social life and
of culture, but, on an even more profound level, what is at stake is the very
meaning of the human person."[10] Such renewal requires a clear awareness
that, by its Catholic character, a university is made more capable of conducting
an impartial search for truth, a search that is neither subordinated to nor
conditioned by particular interests of any kind." (Ex Corde Ecclesiae Pope
John Paul II August 15, 1990) Contributions by: Debra L. Vinnedge,
Executive Director, Children of God for Life, Yvonne Bontkowski,
Associate Director, Children of God for Life, Illinois Chapter; Steven
Kellmeyer, Moral Theologian, Fr. Anthony Zimmerman, Retired Professor Moral
Theology, Dr. Dianne Irving, PhD, Professor of Philosophy and Medical Ethics.
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