Germany: ” “a contradictory decision” “

On 30 January the German Parliament voted in favour of the importation of embryonal stem cells for research purposes, and will in the near future be called to vote on the entire bill regulating the question. The German Churches, as indeed numerous deputies, opposed this decision (cf. SirEurope no. 4/2002). “The decision is contrary to the spirit of Germany’s law on the protection of the embryo”, pointed out Joachim Meyer, president of the central Committee of German Catholics. We sounded out the view of Msgr. Gebhard Fürst , bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, president of the Commission of bioethics of the German Bishops’ Conference and member of the National Ethical Council. What’s your assessment of the decision of the Bundestag to allow the importation of embryonal stem cells? “Both the German bishops and I personally, as representative of the Catholic Church on the National Ethical Council, are disappointed. The decision represents a defeat for the humanity of our society and also means that there is no longer a basic ethical consensus as regards the protection of life. The majority vote by Parliament justifies the killing of embryos abroad for research purposes, something that is prohibited in Germany according to the law on the protection of the embryo of 1990. I therefore believe this is also a contradictory decision”. Does permitting abroad what is prohibited in one’s own country mean admitting double standards in morality? “Yes, in as much as the debatable ethical presuppositions for obtaining embryonal stem cells are left to others. The restrictive legislation in force in Germany has become an alibi for the permission to import stem cells from abroad”. Did the National Ethical Council, which in late November last year had pronounced itself in favour of a yes vote, influence the final decision? “The majority of the Ethical Council supported importation under certain conditions and this represented a kind of ‘counterweight’ to the contrary vote of the Commission of inquiry of the Bundestag. What I found very regrettable is that no one paid much attention to the content of the opinion expressed by the Ethical Council, which dedicated ten pages to the two opposing positions.” Is the present decision only the first step? “The decision has in fact been criticized by scientists who, in view of the restrictions envisaged, fear impairment both to the quantity and the quality of the ‘imported merchandise’. I believe therefore that the rigid conditions set for the import of stem cells will be progressively watered down and that the next step will be research on home-grown embryos in Germany.” What will be the content of the new law? “The bill must be presented in a few weeks’ time, and will oppose ‘the utilization of other embryos with a view to obtaining embryonal stem cells’; just for this reason it seems absurd, because the German law will have no influence on foreign laboratories. In the law on the protection of the embryo, importation was not regulated in an explicit manner, but now it is presented as acceptable ‘only as an exceptional measure for research projects'”. Is this solution only a political compromise or the real expression of a social consensus? “It’s a political compromise, behind which there is no ‘huge social consensus’, as maintained by the German Scientific Society as a condition for importation. In fact 45% of members of Parliament have always expressed themselves in favour of a total ban. New therapies must not be sought at the expense of human embryos, but by other means, for instance by research on adult stem cells, which is acceptable from the ethical point of view”. Patrizia Collesi