Equally worrying is what happened in Germany, where "the defence of human life at its beginning has traditionally been very strictly regulated by the laws and by the Constitution". However "since 2002 explained Zollitsch there has been an exception for research on embryo stem cells in the ‘Act for guarantees in defence of embryos from the import and use of human embryo stem cells’. This act makes an exception for human embryo cells which have not been produced in Germany, only if created in the countries of origin before January 1st 2002". Now "this date has been postponed by the German Bundestag to May 1st 2007". A decision that, according to the German bishop, failed to consider "the failures of research on human embryo stem cells" and the "successes of research on adult human stem cells". In the light of such developments, he concluded, for the Church "it is still important to always voice its arguments in any country, at any time. Research on human embryo stem cells relativises the defence of human life, since the total exploitation of human embryos for research is tolerated". ” ” ” “
