“The German Bishops Conference basically approves of an accurate explanation of the ethical issues, without which the legislator cannot meet its responsibilities”. It was said yesterday in Berlin by the secretary general of the German Bishops, father Hans Langendörfer, as he spoke of the research on stem cells, the subject that is the focus of the public audition of the Bundestag Commission. The priest insisted that the embryo is entitled "to life and to the unlimited protection of life, since the time of conception. Any other principle that fixes the beginning of life to a later stage or that only partly protects the initial life of the embryo, arouses deep ethical doubts”. “However desirable, treating or curing so far incurable illnesses cannot be disjoined from the methods with which such results can be achieved and from their consequences. Insofar as such methods involve the destruction of the human being in embryo, they are unacceptable. The promotion of the interests of research cannot by any means cause human beings to be considered a store of raw materials. The protection of life cannot be conditional on the freedom of research. Ethically-unexceptionable alternative treatments, such as adult stem cells, must be taken advantage of and explored”.
