Villegas: ALS research must not destroy embryos
ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE RAVE
TAKE the ALS-ice bucket challenge if you must but first, know this.
The president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas is making donors aware that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research could involve the use of embryonic stem cells, in vivo or in vitro.
In a statement, Villegas urged “Catholics who participate in the challenge and who make donations to this research must also demand of fund-raisers and organizers an assurance that none of the donations made will be applied to researches that are ethically reproved”.
“As long as research on ALS as well as other debilitating conditions such as Parkinson’s Diseases and Alzheimer’s keep within the confines of the ethical demands of human dignity, they will be encouraged by the Church, and our Catholic faithful will be urged to support them with generosity and with charity for all who suffer,” Villegas said.
He said the ‘ice-bucket challenge’ seems to be the most recent rave with national personalities joining in. Throughout the world, and now, even in the Philippines, people recognize the nobility of the cause: research on the ALS, more popularly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, he added.
Villegas said there have been disturbing reports, however, that ALS research involves the use of stem-cells since ALS is a degenerative disorder and stem-cells apparently hold out the promise of reversing the death and degeneration of brain cells, in particular. Stem-cells however are most readily harvested from embryos, and it is in this regard that this type of research is ethically problematic, he added.
He said the importance of ALS research cannot be overstated. Research must proceed, for so many suffer, he added “but we must also guide the Catholic faithful, and all who heed the ethical teaching of the Church,” he said. (Tita Roces)
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