EUROPE/BELGIUM - COMMISSION OF BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES OF EUROPEAN COMMUNITY SAYS: IN ITS RESEARCH ON HUMAN CELLS “SCIENCE MUST NOT CONFLICT WITH HUMAN RIGHTS”

Rome (Fides Service) - “The rejection for moral and anthropological reasons of the use of human embryos and embryonic stem cells is not an attack on scientific research. It is about ensuring that science does not conflict with human rights”. This was affirmed by Mgr Noel Treanor, Secretary General of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), in a statement with regard to the European Commission proposed guidelines for the funding of research on human embryonic stem cells under the Sixth EU Research Framework Programme. In the statement Mgr Treanor says “Such research raises fundamental moral problems because it involves the destruction of human embryos. For this reason, it is not permitted in several EU Member States…We hope that scientific advances will soon make new therapies available for illnesses which are incurable today. There is, for example, promising research involving adult stem cells, which carries high therapeutic potential and deserves EU funding. At the same time, it is not clear whether research on human embryonic stem cells will ultimately lead to therapies. Above all, we believe that human life has an intrinsic and absolute value at every stage of its development, and that it should not therefore be used as "raw material". A good end cannot be used to justify any means.” Mgr Treanor concludes by saying that the European Bishops hope that “that the Council of Ministers will decide not to use common EU funds for research using human embryos and embryonic stem cells” AP (Fides Service 14/7/2003 EM lines 25 Words: 277)