Contact: John Huebscher 608-257-0004

The Catholic Church encourages scientific inquiry and research. To the extent that scientists engage in ethical inquiry and discovery they participate in God’s creative design for the universe.

But research, like any human activity, must be ethically and morally grounded. Our society must evaluate scientific inquiry, like economic decisions, foreign policy, or any policy choices in light of its impact on human life and dignity.

Regarding stem cell research specifically, we encourage research on stem cells taken from people who have already been born. Cells derived in this morally licit way hold promise for medical and scientific advances and the use of public dollars to support such research is appropriate.

Research that relies on the destruction of human embryos is another matter. Human life is sacred in its own right. Even at its earliest stage of development, human life must never be destroyed or sacrificed to serve some other end. Because we believe this, we object to stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos.

In this context, we have severe reservations about the Governor’s new biotech initiative. We strongly object to those aspects of the initiative that support research that is rooted in the destruction of human embryos. We encourage all of our state’s policy makers to oppose efforts to further invest public resources in this unethical research.

At the same time, we support those elements of the initiative that seek to advance our public commitment to avenues of research that do not involve destruction of embryos. We are confident that, over time, these other avenues will discover ethically acceptable ways to advance human knowledge that serve the well-being of all people.

We are further troubled by the degree to which the advancement of human embryonic stem cell research in this state is cast in terms of “economic development” and the private market benefit that may be achieved. We urge policymakers to judge all decisions regarding the investment of our public resources by the degree to which they advance and uphold the dignity of the human person and not mere economic gain.

Our state has a responsibility to serve all of our citizens. At a time when we are facing deficits in our programs to provide basic health care services to our most vulnerable citizens, it is critical for our policy makers to maintain a proper perspective on those public investments that will best serve the common good.