Q: Why are Catholics so against stem cell research? It could help so many people.A: This is a misconception many people have. The Catholic Church is not against stem cell research, but is against fetal stem cell research. We agree that adult stem cells can and has helped many people.
The Catholic Church does not support fetal stem cell research because it destroys a living human embryo in order to extract the embryo’s stem cells. The Church teaches that all life is sacred, from conception until natural death.
If our government can choose to destroy an unborn human life for the greater good, then soon it will also become their right to decide to dispose of terminally ill patients and condemned prisoners.
We must also consider the long-term consequences of fetal stem cell research. Once the limited supplies of human embryos are destroyed, where will the additional embryos come from? The answer is egg extraction, something already happening in California and England. Egg extraction is an extremely painful and dangerous process for women. It also destroys women’s dignity by stripping them of their natural instinct as caregivers and selling their own infants.
Adult stem cell research does cure disease. There have been over 70 debilitating diseases that have either been treated or cured with stem cell research. So far there have been no benefits in embryonic stem cell research. Also adult stem cell research does not harm the donor and is much easier to extract. Some ways they extract the stem cells include blood from the umbilical cord, dental pulp, and the placenta.
If we support embryonic stem cell research then we neither respect the life God gave us nor are we responsible caretakers of the earth and our babies as God meant us to be.
I hope this has answered your question.
God bless,
Mary
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