Cardinal Rigali Defends Embryonic Children, Opposes NIH Guidelines

NIH Guidelines on Embryonic Stem Cell Research are anti-life and must not be supported.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Justin Cardinal Rigali serves as the Chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. He is a champion of life, of women and of the family. He has shown great courage in this important position. The Obama Administration has deeply disappointed millions in their alleged overhaul of the guidelines governing embryonic stem cell research.

We offer the Cardinal's letter to our readers as a clear, authoritative statement of why all friends of life must continue to speak out in opposition to deadly embryonic stem cell research. We must insist that we are NOT opposed to stem cell research. Rather, we are opposed to deadly embryonic stem cell research.

Science must always be placed at the service of life and truly ordered toward the common good.The breakthroughs in adult stem cell research show much more promise than every effort at using deadly embryonic stem cell methods. They are fully supported by the Church. The act of "extracting" stem cells from human embryonic life always kills the embryonic human. It is therefore an intrinisically immoral act.

Cardinal Rigali's Statements in Defense of embryonic children and against the NIH Guidelines

"In April I criticized the NIH's draft guidelines for destructive embryonic stem cell research, saying that under these guidelines 'federal tax dollars will be used to encourage destruction of living embryonic human beings for stem cell research - including human beings who otherwise would have survived and been born.'

"The final guidelines issued yesterday are even broader. Parents who are asked to consider having their embryonic children destroyed for research will not even have to be informed about all their other options - only about the options that happen to be available at their particular fertility clinic.

"Moreover, under the final guidelines, stem cell lines that existed previously or that are produced in foreign countries may be made eligible for federally funded research even if they were obtained in ways that violate one or more of the NIH's own informed consent requirements.

"The comments of tens of thousands of Americans opposing the destruction of innocent human life for stem cell research were simply ignored in this process. Even comments filed by the Catholic bishops' conference and others against specific abuses in the draft guidelines were not addressed.

"For example, federally funded researchers will be allowed to insert human embryonic stem cells into the embryos of animal species other than primates; federal grants will be available even to researchers who themselves destroyed human embryos to obtain the stem cells for their research. Existing federal law against funding research in which human embryos are harmed or destroyed is not given due respect here.

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"This debate now shifts to Congress, where some members have said even this policy does not go far enough in treating some human beings as objects to be created, manipulated and destroyed for others' use. I hope Americans concerned about this issue will write to their elected representatives, urging them not to codify or further expand this unethical policy."

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