Kmiec column is disingenuous

Strange that The Catholic Review would give Douglass Kmiec (CR, April 2) the space to present an ambiguous defense of President Barack Obama’s stem cell policy in the same issue that our Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien warns us that the current administration is “on track to live up to projections that it would be one of the most radically pro-abortion administrations in recent history.” Mr. Kmiec has been an outspoken supporter of Obama. His column is disingenuous at best. He hides behind the National Academy of Sciences, which has no ethical competence at all. He states “the new president’s policy does not contemplate creating new embryos for the sole purpose of scientific research,” yet he fails to tell us that it does not prohibit this practice but rather leaves the door wide open for its implementation. Who among us thinks that therapeutic cloning will not be allowed by this administration? He also tells us that the president’s policy contemplates “putting to use so-called ‘surplus’ embryos.” How can Kmiec continue to support and defend a president whose utilitarian view sees life as “surplus”? He is deceived if he thinks therapeutic cloning will not be encouraged by President Obama’s minions. Lastly, he wants us to be involved in drafting regulations for an intrinsically evil policy. Kmiec represents the church’s teaching and wisdom on life issues as just another viewpoint. It is a shame that he continues to defend the indefensible.