Bishop Leibrecht: Stem cell research and the Catholic Church

The debate over using stem cells for research focuses on the use of cells obtained by destroying days-old human embryos. Using stem cells from adults for research, which has been done for decades with many positive results, presents no fundamental ethical concern.

Donn Rubin of Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, which supports the use of stem cells from human embryos, writes that Catholic bishops and priests should remain "true to the science" in this debate. We have been and will be. We put forward the scientific fact that the embryo, from its first moment of existence, is both human and alive. If that were not the fact, scientists would show no interest in the embryo's stem cells.

Missouri citizens must consider the ethical propriety of destroying an embryo to harvest its stem cells. Does the end, in this case the good intention of researchers, necessarily justify the means? No. History offers sad examples of political leaders and scientists using unethical and unjust means in search of a worthwhile good. Many of us do not agree with former U.S. Sen. John Danforth who, in a search for cures of disease, approves of harvesting stem cells that require the destruction of human embryos.

The scientific fact to be kept before us is the humanity of the alive embryo. A related religious belief is that the human embryo, precisely because it is human, deserves to be protected from becoming an unethical means used for a desirable end.

Bishop John Leibrecht
Cape Girardeau