| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________United
States_______________
Showdown on stem cells
Heavy lobbying precedes presidential decision
On June 27, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a report promising “dazzling” results from stem-cell research. The report immediately touched off a lively debate in Washington. President George W. Bush came under heavy pressure to end a ban on federal funding for stem-cell research, while pro-life activists insisted that Bush must honor his campaign commitment to continue the ban. As CWR went to press the issue remained unresolved. The debate had reportedly caused sharp divisions within the White House staff, and some Republican Party officials were feverishly searching for an elusive “compromise” solution that would take the pressure off the President.
A 1996 law prohibits the use of federal funds in any research in which unborn children are harmed. Last year, the Clinton administration had proposed guidelines to get around the law by allowing government-funded researchers to buy cells from private groups that would do the harvesting.
Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, told the group’s annual convention in Charlotte, South Carolina, that the real issue is whether taxpayer funds should be used to pay for the killing of unborn children for research. “The media wants to cast it as a question of being for or against stem-cell research. That is not really the issue,” Johnson told convention delegates. “It’s not really the stem cells that are the focus of the argument. It’s where they come from. The controversial type of research requires the killing of human embryos and that is what we object to.”
Recent scientific studies have added strength to the pro-life argument against stem-cell research by showing that tissues taken from adults can provide the same scientific benefits as those taken from embryos, without involving the same moral difficulties. Adult tissues, taken from bone marrow, can be developed without harming the donors.
Stem cells can be developed into a number of different sorts of human cells, raising the prospect that they may be used to repair or replace cells that are damaged or diseased. Preliminary studies indicated that stem-cell research could lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease—although more complete studies have caused scientists to back off their initial claims.
The NIH report, which was an important part of a White House review of federal policy in the field, acknowledged that stem cells taken from adult tissue has been proven “capable of developing into more kinds of cells than previously imagined.” However, the NIH insisted: “All avenues of research should be exhaustively investigated, including both adult and embryonic sources of tissue.”
American voters favor stem-cell research by a 3-1 margin, supporters of the research claimed. A poll conducted by pollsters Peter Hart and Robert Teeter found that the clear majority of respondents—after hearing the claims that the research might produce dramatic breakthroughs in treatment for ailments such as Parkinson’s disease—would favor research. Backers of that research took pains to point out that, according to the Hart-Teeter study, over 70 percent of American Catholics favor stem-cell research.
As the debate continued, a new wrinkle was added to the argument with the revelation that one private American firm is already producing human embryos, through artificial fertilization techniques, solely for the purpose of harvesting stem cells. The Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia—where the country’s first test-tube baby was conceived—mixes donated eggs and sperm to produce the embryos, which are promptly destroyed when the stem cells are derived. Another firm in Massachusetts, Advanced Cell Technology, reported efforts to achieve the same results by cloning human embryos. Since these two firms are private enterprises, they are not covered by the ban on federal funding for such research.
Extradition for accused killer of abortionist
Suspect proclaims his innocence
An American pro-life activist who has been accused of shooting an abortionist in Buffalo should be extradited to face charges in the US, a French court has decided.
The court in Rennes recommended turning over James Kopp to American authorities for prosecution in the 1998 murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian. The decision came after US Attorney General John Ashcroft agreed not to seek the death penalty in the case. France, which does not have a death penalty, ordinarily does not agree to extradition in cases in which the suspect could face execution.
Kopp was arrested in France in March, after months of flight from American federal prosecutors. Kopp—who maintains that he is innocent of the murder charges—has appealed the French court’s decision.
Church group must fund contraceptives
Court rules against Catholic Charities
A three-judge panel of a California state appeals court has rejected a bid by Catholic Charities of Sacramento to challenge a state law that requires the organization to provide contraceptives to employees as part of its health insurance plans.
The panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s denial of a request to allow Catholic Charities to provide insurance without the contraceptives. The ruling said there was little hope that the agency would prevail in a challenge to the law.
In the course of the litigation, officials of Catholic Charities revealed that the agency had been providing contraceptive coverage for employees, as stipulated by the new law, while their appeal was in the courts. While the agency could avoid the issue entirely by removing coverage of all prescription drugs from the insurance policy, Catholic Charities said that such a solution would violate Catholic social teaching by failing to provide complete medical coverage.
Kathy Kneer, president of Planned Parenthood of California, said, “Catholic Charities believed that although 75 percent of its employees are not Catholic, nor are the vast majority of the people they serve, they should qualify for the exemption. Both the Superior Court of Sacramento and the California Court of Appeals disagreed.” She added, “It is wrong for an employer to impose its religious views on employees. This is especially true when that employer is a public benefit agency that accepts public funding.”
Catholic Charities’ attorney James Sweeney said of the decision, “We’re not trying to enforce our viewpoint on anybody. We’re just trying to live according to our consciences. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working out that way.”
Posthumous gold medal
President honors Cardinal O’Connor
President George W. Bush lauded the late Cardinal John O’Connor on July 10 in a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York as he posthumously bestowed the Congressional Gold Medal on the prelate.
Congress voted to grant the medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to the cardinal in March 2000; the award was never formally conferred, as the cardinal—already in the final stages of a battle with cancer—died in May. “The world will remember the gallant defender of children in their vulnerability, innocence, and their right to be born,” Bush said.
Back to Catholic World Report August/September 2001 Table of Contents