Stem-cell report offers no ethical oversight, pro-life official says

Published: 2005-05-03

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The National Academies' new guidelines for embryonic stem-cell research do little more than "add a bit of bureaucracy" to privately funded research using stem cells from human embryos "without responding to the serious ethical concerns about the research," a Catholic pro-life official said May 2. Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said the new document starts with the "working assumption" that using embryos left over from in vitro fertilization attempts or even creating new embryos just for research is "perfectly fine." The document, released April 26 by a joint committee of the National Academies' National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, offers "procedural, not ethical, guidelines," Doerflinger added. The academies also include the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

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