Dignitas Personae, the 2008 instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, states: “To create embryos with the intention of destroying them, even with the intention of helping the sick, is completely incompatible with human dignity, because it makes the existence of a human being at the embryonic stage nothing more than a means to be used and destroyed.”
Although therapeutic cloning has the potential to save lives, sacrificing human embryos in the process is unacceptable. Thus, in our technologically advanced world, it is important that Catholics not fall blind and become unaware of the moral implications that scientific advances have for society. Seeking inspiration from God, rather than the power of technology, is essential.
At the same time, Catholics should not reject science altogether and discount all the advantages and blessings science has brought. Scientific research and innovations have advanced the medical industry. Science has enabled the introduction of various antibiotics, surgical techniques and rehabilitation treatments that assist those in need of medical care. It is through scientific research that human beings can understand the functions of the body and can identify and examine various medical ailments.
But always, it is necessary for us to abide by the beliefs of our faith and to understand what is acceptable and what is immoral in the eyes of God.
(Gagliano, 20, is a life sciences student at the University of Toronto.)
Embryos are sacred too
By Annette Gagliano, Youth Speak NewsLife is sacred from the moment of conception to natural death. Often, the media discusses moral issues related to death, such as situations concerning consent to “pull the plug” on life-support or individuals committing suicide.
Through recent advances in medicine, scientists have developed reproductive techniques to artificially create human embryos. One such method is therapeutic cloning, where scientists artificially produce embryos to study various diseases and ailments to assist them in finding cures for disease. Scientists can create as many ‘models’ as they please for their research, and if some embryos die in the experiment, other viable human embryos are generated. Therefore, although therapeutic cloning provides opportunities to find cures, there are obvious ethical repercussions for Catholics.
Every child is a unique gift from God, and it is immoral for humans to have the right to produce, let alone destroy, embryos for medical research. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the immorality behind producing artificial embryos: “The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that ‘entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.” Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children, says The Catechism.
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