Church leaders express dismay over Europe embryonic stem-cell funding

Published: 2006-06-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The European Parliament's recent decision to approve funding for embryonic stem-cell research is "a fundamental mistake" based on a logic that is "tragically utilitarian," said the Vatican newspaper. L'Osservatore Romano said in its June 16-17 edition that European leaders seem to have adopted a "thickheaded" and "blind secularism that denies not only the religious convictions of the majority of its people, but also the inviolable rights of the person." Earmarking money for research on cells drawn from human embryos represents "an unacceptable reversal of God's plan for humankind," it said. The EU research policy and budget still needs approval from national ministers in the European Council, after that it will return for a second vote in the European Parliament. The ruling would allow the funding of research using human adult and embryonic stem cells, but not the use of cloned stem cells. The production of human embryos solely for research purposes would not be financed, and it would also be limited by the legal restrictions each EU member state has adopted on stem-cell research.

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