Stem Cell Research What Stem Cells Are What the Catholic Church says about it Why the Catholic Church is against Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Stem cells are unspecialized cells of a multicellular organism that are capable of giving rise to indefinitely more cells of the same type that can change into specialized cells like a lung tissue, kidney tissue and nervous tissue.

There are two different types of stem cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, which are obtained from embryos, fetuses, & placenta, and Somatic Stem Cells, obtained from adult tissue Embryonic Stem Cells “Embryonic stem cells, as their name suggests, are derived from embryos. Most embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro—in an in vitro fertilization clinic—and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors. They are not derived from eggs fertilized in a woman's body.” 1 Adult Stem Cells “An adult stem cell is thought to be an undifferentiated cell, found among differentiated cells in a tissue or organ that can renew itself and can differentiate to yield some or all of the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ. The primary roles of adult stem cells in a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found. Scientists also use the term somatic stem cell instead of adult stem cell, where somatic refers to cells of the body.” 2

“The Church supports most stem cell research which typically contains cells from adult tissue, umbilical cord blood, and other sources. This type of research poses no moral problem. On the other hand, the ethical issue involved in embryonic stem cell research is that researchers must harvest stem cells from living human embryos, thus destroying them. Scientists do this by collecting or harvesting stem cells from the very early stages of a fertilized egg, called a blastocyst” 3 This quote is saying that the Church fully supports the stem cell research because in it, scientists can make advancements that can hopefully one day cure cancer or other diseases, but what crosses the line of the Catholic Church is the taking of stem cells from embryos of unborn children, which would be taken from aborting them.

2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation: "The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death." 80 "The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined.... As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights." Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being. Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safeguarding or healing as an individual.... It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence.“ 4

What this excerpt from the Catechism is saying is that the Embryo of a human being should be protected from conception to natural death and when its not, it is an injustice to civil society because it is on the same level as murdering someone. This pertains to the reason the Catholic Church is against Embryonic Stem Cell research in some aspects because the embryos are coming from aborted children.

63. “This evaluation of the morality of abortion is to be applied also to the recent forms of intervention on human embryos which, although carried out for purposes legitimate in themselves, inevitably involve the killing of those embryos. This is the case with experimentation on embryos, which is becoming increasingly widespread in the field of biomedical research and is legally permitted in some countries. Although "one must uphold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but rather are directed to its healing, the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival,” it must nonetheless be stated that the use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person. This moral condemnation also regards procedures that exploit living human embryos and fetuses- sometimes specifically "produced" for this purpose by in vitro fertilization- either to be used as "biological material" or as providers of organs or tissue for transplants in the treatment of certain diseases. The killing of innocent human creatures, even if carried out to help others, constitutes an absolutely unacceptable act.”” 5

What this quote from Pope John Paul II is saying is basically the same as the catechism’s: Stem Cell Research is completely fine in the eyes of the Church, so long as the embryonic stem cells they obtain aren’t from aborted fetuses.

Genesis 1:26-30 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so” For a third time, the sanctity of life is being focused on. In this passage, God is saying he created us in His image and killing a baby in the womb for stem cell research is killing one of God’s kids.

Stem Cell research isn’t bad. It actually is extremely important to science, as it could lead to the cure of many diseases within the body. What the Catholic Church has against stem cell research is in the Embryonic Stem Cell research branch, in which the scientists take the embryos from aborted babies to get these stem cells.

1:"Frequently Asked Questions." What Are Adult Stem Cells? [Stem Cell Information]. Web. 22 Oct :"Frequently Asked Questions." What Are Embryonic Stem Cells? [Stem Cell Information].Web. 22 Oct :Pennock, Michael. Catholic Social Teaching: Learning & Living Justice. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria, Print. Pg 84 4:"From the Catechism." WTCT: Stem Cell and Cloning. Web. 23 Oct :"Evangelium Vitae, John Paul II, 25 March 1995." Evangelium Vitae, John Paul II, 25 March Web. 23 Oct ents/hf_jp-ii_enc_ _evangelium-vitae_en.html