Posted on 10/09/2006 7:25:37 PM PDT by Coleus
ST. LOUIS, October 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For the first time, a Catholic bishop in the US has come out with a strong statement clarifying the Church’s teaching on the practice of donating, or sometimes selling, human ova for medical research. Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, a strong advocate for life and family, has published a pastoral letter in which he says unequivocally that the removal of ova for artificial reproduction, including cloning, is a grave moral evil.
Referring to an upcoming ballot initiative to amend the state constitution, Archbishop Burke warned that the push to create cloned human beings for medical research not only necessarily takes the lives of innocent human beings, but also exploits women in the process. He wrote, “Human cloning requires the harvesting of eggs from women who are exploited to accomplish the purposes of its proponents. As Christians, we must address the immorality of such exploitation.” “The woman who subjects herself to the harvesting of her eggs for human cloning participates in a grave moral evil, the artificial generation of human life.” Burke said.
That the Catholic Church unequivocally condemns all artificial means of reproduction, as well as abortion and contraception, is one of her best-kept secrets. Pro-life advocates have long struggled to bring to light the fact that the source of much of the so-called “stem cell controversy” is that IVF and its related procedures are themselves violations of human dignity. Burke tells his readers that the ballot measure, called Amendment 2, contains deceptive language and although it is presented as a ban on cloning, it actually protects the practice.
“In fact,” says Burke, “it gives the constitutional right to clone human beings.” “Women will be asked to cooperate in the process without the necessary explanation of the moral implications of their cooperation.” Burke says plainly: “The natural moral law prohibits any woman from cooperating in the act of human cloning.”
He warns that the process involved in creating human clones makes not only the clone but the woman into a “commodity” to be bartered in the scientific world. Calling the process “dehumanizing,” Burke says, “The great gift of fertility in a woman, the natural production of the human egg for reproduction, now becomes an object for manipulation by those who promote human cloning.” "A woman’s cooperation in the twin evils of human cloning and the destruction of human embryos for the sake of the harvesting of stem cells is never justified.”
The Archbishop calls on his readers to consider “the grave moral crisis for our state and nation, which Amendment 2 represents, please give reflection to the moral and physical exploitation of women involved in human cloning for embryonic stem-cell research.”
Read the full text of Archbishop Burke’s letter:
http://www.stlouisreview.com/abpcolumn.php?abpid=11552
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Barely Studied Risks of Egg-Donation Come Under Scrutiny
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/aug/06081106.html
I will also stand by my claim that to define a human, created "in God's image," merely by physical existence is at the very least materialistic, demeaning to God, and potentially on the slippery slope to atheism. For if a human is defined by physical existence, what need is there to assume the existence of soul?
I'm saying the nervous system is the interface between the person -- the soul -- and the machine -- the body.>>>
Our humanity begins at conception.
THE CODE FOR HUMAN LIFE
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1059933/posts
That's the sad and brutal irony of your position.
I will also stand by my claim that to define a human, created "in God's image," merely by physical existence is at the very least materialistic, demeaning to God, and potentially on the slippery slope to atheism.
So stop doing it.
You can't get more embryos than eggs.
"And you have no right to stop someone from having a baby by any means they can if that is their wish."
Does that include killing the mother and ripping her baby from her womb? Cause that will get you a child too.
There are immoral means to having a child.
"So... you mean the state can step in and force an abortion if they decide you shouldn't have a baby?"
Ummm...I don't get the comment. All I am saying is that no one has a right to another human being, that's called slavery and we fought a war over it and the issue has been laid to rest. Parents have a duty to care for their children, which would include protecting them from abortion.
A baby is its own unique person. I don't deserve my children, I don't have a right to them. I have a duty to them. But nothing in me gives me the right to have them. They are a gift, they were never owed to me.
Is it really wise for the Church to be in effect trying to limit the number of Christian babies born, as the civilized world faces a "demographic bomb" in the form of a high Muslim birth rate?
Any means?
Babies are born Christian? Really?
(groans)
in effect
"There are immoral means to having a child"
Uh, killing someone and ripping out a baby isn't "having" a child, it's moralizing hysteria.
Any means of having a child, much as any airplane landing you can walk away from, is a good one.
No, there were no embryos collected in the procedure we undertook, but I doubt the good Archbishop (and others) would have allowed even the relatively minor process we went through. Must Avoid the Slippery Slope, after all...
bump
How about rape? How about murder to harvest an egg or sperm? How about a cloning procedure that killed the donor?
How about getting back onto your thorazine? How couples have children is none of your business.
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