“Pre-Implant Diagnosis (Pid) and research on embryonal stem cells”: these are the main focal points of “Pro-life week 2002”, opened at Erfurt, in Thuringia, in the former DDR on 13 April. This is the 12th annual pro-life week in Germany, promoted by the German Episcopal Conference and the Federation of the Evangelic Churches in Germany. In recent days, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, intervening at a round table in the town hall of Erfurt, stressed that with “the most recent methods of research and medical techniques man takes into his own hands the life and destiny of another human person”, appropriating the role of the creator for the first time in the history of mankind”. The cardinal then warned of the dangers of the future developments of pre-implant diagnosis: “If it were to be permitted in Germany, its field of application would be extended and couples who cannot have children would simultaneously use artificial insemination and Pid to determine the characteristics they want for their child, such as sex or colour of eyes”.
