The Catholic Church's Stand on Stem Cell Research

The stem cell research is being supported by many individuals and foundations because of the many uses it could bring science. Potentially, stem cells could be used as a therapy for a variety of diseases and condition. They can be used to replace cells and tissues in the body that have been damaged or diseased in order to restore bodily function.

Christopher Reeve, known for his role as Superman in a series of successful movies, was a known advocate of this research. After an accident in an equestrian tournament, he was paralyzed and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life, until he died in 2004. For this cause, he founded the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Foundation. Despite his difficulties caused by his spinal cord injuries, he tried to be an inspiration to many, knowing that he was covered by the media a lot. Reeve's support for the research is because of the possibility of stem cells to be used to grow nerve cells to repair spinal cord injuries and restore function to paralyzed limbs.

For heart attack patients, stem cells might aid in the growth or heart muscle cells. Patients of Parkinson's disease might also benefit as stem cells are seen to possibly help in making brain cells. They might also be used to grow cells to make insulin. This would benefit diabetics would have impaired insulin production.

Stem cells can be used to grow bone marrow or to make blood cells which are genetically altered to resist diseases like HIV. Furthermore, they can be of use for treatment of other diseases like Alzheimer's, renal problems, liver failure, cancer and multiple sclerosis.

There are 3 sources of stem cells. First, there are stem cells from adults. This is an unspecialized cell that occurs in a specialized tissue that could renew itself and become specialized in giving forth all of the cell types of the tissue in which it is found. Falling in this category also would be cells obtained from umbilical cord blood and the placenta. Secondly, there are stem cells from fetal tissue coming from aborted pregnancies. Technically, this is called embryonic germ cells. These stem cells are derived from the area of the fetus destined to develop into ovaries or testes. Thirdly, there are stem cells that have been isolated from early stage human embryos.

Why is the Catholic Church oppose to this research? The Roman Catholic Church's opposition is based on the traditional respect-for-life position.

The Catholic Church appears to support the research if it is focused on using adult stem cells, because this means there will be no use for embryonic stem cells. The use of embryonic stem cells, according to the Catholic Church's spokespersons, is answerable to two ethical questions: First, is the destruction of the very embryo immoral? Second, if a vaccine or tissue is generated from these human embryonic stem cells, would someone act unethically in using it?

The Catholic Church assets that the human embryo is to be valued and, in effect, treated as a person from the time of fertilization forward. This is in contrast to what advocates of the research claim that the blastocyst (a thin-walled hollow structure in early embryonic development that contains a cluster of cells called the inner cell mass from which the embryo arises) is not yet an individual, and therefore is not yet a person. Therefore killing it is not a moral evil.

Furthermore, it believes that the human embryo should not be destroyed or seen as disposable tissue that can be used in research. Many Catholics and ardent followers criticize Bush's support for the research because it would rely on "destruction of some defenseless human beings for the possible benefit to others". They say that this would cultivate a disrespect for human life.

More over, the Catholic Church questions the allocation of a huge budget for this research, when there is a limited health-care budget. It believes that it is better to focus on prevention of diseases, and educate people more on steps of prevention, instead of focusing too much on a research as grand as this.

John Weaver, a deacon of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Columbia, captures the stand of the Catholic Church against stem cell research very well. He says, "Human embryos are not potential human beings. Human embryos are human beings with potential".

References:
http://americancatholic.org/News/StemCell/
http://www2.loras.edu/~CatholicHE/StemResearch.html