Washington D.C., Jul 8, 2009 / 15:59 pm
Cardinal Justin Rigali, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-life Activities, has criticized the new National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines on human embryonic stem cell research, lamenting that they are “even broader” than their draft proposals.
His April 21 statement on the draft guidelines had said federal tax dollars would be used to encourage destruction of “living embryonic human beings” for stem cell research, including “human beings who otherwise would have survived and been born.”
On Tuesday Cardinal Rigali said the final guidelines are “even broader” in that “parents asked to consider having their embryonic children destroyed for research will not even have to be informed about all their other options” but only about options available at their particular fertility clinic.
“Moreover, under the final guidelines, stem cell lines that existed previously or that are produced in foreign countries may be made eligible for federally funded research even if they were obtained in ways that violate one or more of the NIH's own informed consent requirements,” he said.