With researchers gathered in Baltimore for the World Stem Cell Summit, Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien offers a word of warning: "Science divorced from ethics undermines genuine progress."
"Embryonic stem cell research requires the destruction of human embryos," the spiritual leader of the archdiocese's half million Catholics writes in a commentary in The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday.
"It is understandably tempting to pursue this avenue given the stated goal of such research to produce treatments that could relieve the pain of, and perhaps even provide cures for, diseases plaguing countless people. Those burdened by disease or injuries deserve our unequivocal support, and scientific research should undoubtedly be commissioned on their behalf.
"That same science, however, also irrefutably demonstrates that a human embryo is a distinct human being. Its appearance and abilities differ from ours, but its nature is the same.
"To end one human life for the sake of another, even when the former is microscopically small and the latter is someone we know and love, is to play a dangerous game of utilitarianism. We shouldn't end lives to save lives. This practice violates one of the most basic ethical principles: The ends do not justify the means."
