A moral decree from the vatican’t
“The Vatican issued the most authoritative and sweeping document on bioethical issues in 20 years on Friday, taking into account recent developments in biomedical technology and reinforcing the church’s opposition to in vitro fertilization, human cloning, genetic testing on embryos before implantation and embryonic stem cell research,” report Povoledo and Goodstein of the NY Times.
In case you need yet another organisation to give you moral advice and dictate your personal life decisions (as if mom and dad weren’t enough), read about the Vatican’s decree after the break!
“The Vatican says these techniques violate the principle that every human life — even an embryo — is sacred, and that children should be conceived only through intercourse by a married couple.”
The terms “power-hungry” and “dictator” come to mind.
“The document ['Dignitas Personae,' or 'The Dignity of the Person'] bans the morning-after pill, the IUD and RU 486, saying these can result in what amount to abortions. The church also objects to freezing embryos, because it exposes them to potential damage and manipulation, and raises the irresolvable problem of what to do with frozen embryos that are not implanted. There are hundreds of thousands of these in the United States alone, a fact that prompted church ethicists to use this document to reiterate the church’s opposition to in vitro fertilization.”
Why is the church opposed to in vitro fertilization? Aren’t children a “precious gift from God”? Those couples and individuals who want to have children (a.k.a. precious gifts from God) should be able and allowed to have kids. Or is the church so greedy and obtuse as to forbid people who are unable to conceive to ever have babies? So unfair.
“The Vatican’s intended audience is both individual Roman Catholics, but also doctors, scientists and medical researchers, and legislators who might consider regulating new developments in biomedical technology.”
“The Vatican document reiterates that the church is opposed to research on stem cells derived from embryos. But it does not oppose research on stem cells derived from adults, blood from umbilical cords, or from fetuses ‘who have died of natural causes.’”
A person has a right to make personal choices that are right for him/her. Smart people realize this fact. The church should stop judging and dictating people’s lives. How very midieval and nonsensical they still are. With that said, I still respect religion and believe it can be useful at times, as long as it doesn’t meddle in my life.
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below!
Source: Elisabetta Povoledo and Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times
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