Vatican newspaper criticizes EU vote on stem-cell research funding

Published: 2006-07-26

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The European Union's decision to continue funding for embryonic stem-cell research represents "the macabre result of a twisted sense of logic," said the Vatican newspaper. In its July 26 edition, L'Osservatore Romano criticized the EU ministers' attempts to find a middle ground between pro-life concerns and pressures for stem-cell research. Instead of finding an ethical solution, the European Union has condoned "a macabre illicit trade" between researchers who harvest stem cells and those who work with stem-cell lines, the Vatican newspaper said. A proposal to fund research on stem cells was amended to clarify that the funding would not go to harvesting cells that involve the destruction of human embryos, but rather would be limited to research on stem-cell lines already derived from embryos. Italy and Germany swung the July 24 vote by national ministers of the European Council to give the package majority approval. Austria, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovakia rejected the proposal. The European Council is the main decision-making body of the European Union.

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