The Catholic News Service article, “NIH grants approval for stem-cell line research” (CR, Dec. 10), reports that NIH Director, Dr. Francis S. Collins, said that the 13 stem cell lines created for government funding of experimentation on humans were created following a “very detailed informed consent process” and the “stem-cell lines were derived from embryos that were donated under ethically sound informed consent processes.”
No matter how Dr. Collins paints it, killing embryos (new human beings) is not ethical; it is immoral. The CNS should have but did not write that no one can make killing embryos a moral act. Catholic News Service should state the Catholic Church’s position in all articles on complex issues to keep lay people correctly informed.
Our tax dollars should be used for adult research to help the sick, e.g., a new very promising protocol to help adults with sickle cell anemia, but not for the immoral ESCR which has benefited no one.