Intellectual short-sightedness

We need to deplore the decision of the Council of Ministers of 24 July concerning the ethical parameters that regulate EU funding for research on embryos and on stem cells derived from human embryos. We also need to fear that the European Union is failing to respect the inviolability of human life. The recognition of limits however is one of the necessary conditions to make responsible choices. Science and politics must recognise that everything that is possible is not necessarily acceptable. The debate on ethics and public policy in the field of bioscience has just begun and in this context other questions of great importance at the anthropological, bioethical and socio-ethical level will be raised. On 27 July a report was presented to the French minister that lent its support to authorization of research on embryonal stem cells and therapeutic cloning. Following the decision of the European Council, proposals were advanced for a reform of the current provisions of German legislation on this type of research, with a view to its liberalization. Both in Europe and in the rest of the world, the men and women of the 21st century find themselves faced by a key problem: how to strike the right balance between freedom of research and respect for human dignity and fundamental values? The recent discussions on the 7th EU Framework Programme of research (FP7) offer an anticipation of the great debates of the future. As regards this Programme, the Catholic Church and non-confessional groups have periodically posed questions about specific research projects that involved research on human embryos and on stem cells derived from human embryos (projects that, admittedly, represent only a tiny fraction of the total budget provided by the Programme). The Church’s concerns in this area regard respect for the inviolability and sacred character of human life. One of her essential objectives is to help decision-makers and the scientific community to avoid the trap of the ‘reification’ of human life, its reduction to a commodity. Europe will soon come to regret the intellectual short-sightedness that consists in accusing of fundamentalism the attitude that leads to opposing on ethical grounds a form of experimentation that directly or indirectly involves the killing of the human embryo. Science and technology are undoubtedly at the centre of the economic development of the 21st century. Esko Aho, former Prime Minister of Finland, recently presented a report to the European Commission entitled “Creating a Europe of innovation”. It advises the realization of a Pact for research and innovation with a view to creating an innovatory Europe. Its assertion that a change of paradigm to favour innovation ought not to lead to the abandonment of characteristic elements of European values is perfectly plausible. In a society of information and technology with radically new prospects at the scientific and technological level, Europe’s decision-makers, her scientific community and students of ethics must engage in an open and transparent dialogue. Only thus can Europe remain a credible project at the service of human dignity.