California bishops speak out against stem-cell initiative

Published: 2004-09-13

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CNS) -- California's Catholic bishops are speaking out against Proposition 71, an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot that seeks to fund stem-cell research in which human embryos are killed at a cost to California taxpayers of $6 billion. The bishops, in a statement issued Sept. 7, said they do not oppose stem-cell research itself but the consequences of using human embryos in the research. "Drawing stem cells from an embryo always directly kills that human embryo, and killing human life is never justified even when the intent is to benefit other humans," they said. "We approve and encourage research that uses cells derived from adults and umbilical-cord blood, and we rejoice at the phenomenal cures that some have experienced because of that research," the bishops added, describing this form of research as "morally good." An argument against the proposition that was published with election materials by the California secretary of state said adult and umbilical-cord stem cells have been responsible for 74 major medical breakthroughs.

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