From time to time, we are confronted with something completely new. In order to proclaim clearly to the world the mind of God on something new, the Church must search the Gospels, the letters of the apostles, and the writings of those who have taught the faith through the ages.
When the matter that is completely new involves human life, the Church must teach with particular clarity. Australia, in common with other nations with advanced standards of medical research, is now being forced to make decisions about human stem cell research.
Stem cells are human cells found both in human embryos and in human adults. They grow to produce the other human organs that make the human body. The discovery of stem cells, and the technology to grow them in the laboratory, has opened up the possibility that, at some time in the future, replacement organs and human tissue will be grown to replace damaged organs or tissue in human beings. This is in itself an honourable aim ? and exciting science.
In order for this research to continue, a source of stem cells must be found. Some researchers prefer to obtain stems cells from human embryos. Embryos are humans less than about 14 days old. Others believe that research will be more productive with stem cells derived from adults. This is a legitimate scientific argument that is not yet resolved.
It is certain, however, that obtaining stem cells from the human embryo leads to the death of the embryo.
Our Church, in common with the Catholic and Orthodox churches, teaches with one voice on this matter. The teaching may be summarised as follows:
* All human life is sacred to God. This is reflected in the whole of the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels.
* Human life is constant from conception - when a new genetically complete individual is created - to death.
* The worth of each human life is never diminished because a person is dependent, whether because of being very young or because of being very old. In fact, Jesus teaches that the weak, the vulnerable, the socially unacceptable, the foreigner and the sinful have a special demand on our ministry and love.
* Nor is the worth of each human life diminished by being in some way less than perfect - such as in time of illness or disease.
* Each person is valued equally by God, and must be valued equally by other humans.
* All persons enjoy a right to life, regardless of their status or condition.
* There may be moments when one human being will be given the right to kill another, such as in time of war against an unjust aggressor, but those moments never occur at the whim of an individual. War is sanctioned very rarely by both Church and state as a lesser evil to all other consequences, but never as a good thing in itself.
* The destruction of dependent or helpless humans - such as the unborn or the very elderly or the seriously ill - is profoundly sinful.
* Both euthanasia and abortion are morally abhorrent to Christians and the Church will always teach that they are wrong.
* The production of test tube humans to be used and destroyed in laboratory research is morally evil.
* The production of surplus human embryos in fertility programs, in which they are frozen and eventually discarded if not needed is morally evil.
* No human being has the right to be cured of disease or to have a child (when natural conception is impossible) when the cost of such a cure or of such a baby is the destruction of other human beings.
* No Laboratory or medical procedure can be done that depends on the destruction of human beings.
I have therefore publicly announced that I support research based on adult stem cells. I am totally opposed to the decision of the Australian Government to allow even limited research that requires the destruction of human embryos.
+ John Hepworth
St Etheldreda in the Hills