European Churches" "
The French bishops reject “human cloning” because it involves dangerous “interferences in essential elements of the identity of the future human being” and represents “a grave violation of human dignity”; but above all because “each embryo is already a human being” and cannot be used as “an object in the hands of man”. The point is forcefully made by Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard, president of the French Episcopal Conference, in a statement released on 27 January with the title “There are no exceptions to the respect that is due to the human embryo”. The human cloning that is performed by starting out from a single individual writes Ricard “involves an interference in the essential elements of the identity of the future human being. Such a reproductive method, and such a seizure of power over the identity of others, constitute grave violations of human dignity and betray a total lack of respect for the child involved”. The Church also rejects the utilization of human embryos “as research material or as the source of cells for therapeutic purposes”. “Such a creation of embryos declares the statement would reduce the human embryo to the status of a thing”. “The human embryo emphasizes the French Church is not, nor must it be, treated as a thing. To do so would be a grave transgression. For the first time, a human being in the womb would be legally codified and the way would be opened to grave consequences, also in view of the huge economic pressures being exerted on research of this kind”.
