Brasilia, Brazil, May 30, 2008 / 12:08 pm
The Bishops’ Conference of Brazil issued a statement yesterday deploring the approval of law that allows research with human embryos and underscoring its firm commitment to the defense of life from conception to natural death.
The Brazilian bishops’ response came in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that upheld the law which allows “the use of embryos created through in vitro fertilization and that have been frozen for more than three years in fertility clinics.”
The bishops noted the issue was “not one of a religious nature but rather of the promotion of human life,” and they underscored that life, which begins “at fertilization,” should be protected “in all circumstances.”
The embryo is “a human life,” as confirmed by “embryology and biology, and therefore the human embryo has the right to be protected by the State.”