The Gist
Pope Benedict XVI officially endorsed adult stem-cell research in September 2006. The Catholic Church is against embryonic stem cell research because of the life-destroying way the stem cells are gathered. Based on science, embryonic stem cell tests have shown to not only not cure diseases, but subjects have grown cancerous tumors from the experiments.
After spending more than $3 billion on embryonic research, researchers have cured zero diseases. To date, adult stem cells have cured at least 73 different diseases including sickle cell anemia, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s and several forms of cancer, leukemia and arthritis.
(Pope Benedict Endorsed Adult Stem-Cell Research – read more)
Click here for a full list of cures from adult stem cells.
A Statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
The Imperative to Respect Human Life
The Catholic Church “appreciates and encourages the progress of the biomedical sciences which open up unprecedented therapeutic prospects” (Pope Benedict XVI, Address of January 31, 2008). At the same time, it affirms that true service to humanity begins with respect for each and every human life. Because life is our first and most basic gift from an infinitely loving God, it deserves our utmost respect and protection. Direct attacks on innocent human life are always gravely wrong. Yet some researchers, ethicists, and policy makers claim that we may directly kill innocent embryonic human beings as if they were mere objects of research—and even that we should make taxpayers complicit in such killing through use of public funds. Thus, while human life is threatened in many ways in our society, the destruction of human embryos for stem cell research confronts us with the issue of respect for life in a stark new way.