Toledo, Ohio, Jul 13, 2011 / 04:08 am
“Misgivings” about the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s association with Planned Parenthood and its “openness” to embryonic stem cell research were behind the Ohio Catholic bishops’ decision to direct fundraising efforts elsewhere, the Diocese of Toledo said.
“In order to avoid even the possibility of cooperation in morally unacceptable activities, the other bishops and I believe that it would be wise to find alternatives to Komen for Catholic fundraising efforts,” Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo said in a July 5 letter.
There are “moral questions” about the research the Komen Foundation funds, including a policy that does not exclude funding for embryonic stem cell research. They are also contributors to Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the U.S., the bishop said.
Present medical research is sometimes “marred by the erroneous belief that research is not bound by moral norms rooted in faith and reason, as reflected in the teaching of the Church,” Bishop Blair said.