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Forum Pushes Stem Cell Research Bill

A Catholic priest was among the participants at a March 7 “interfaith” forum on the ethics of stem cell research who gave unanimous support to a bill to fund embryonic stem cell research pending in the Maryland General Assembly.

The bill subsequently passed in the House of Delegates by a vote of 81 to 53,  but was stalled in the Senate as Defend Life went to press.

Keynote speaker Rev. Dr. James McCartney, an Augustinian priest and philosophy professor at Villanova University, told the approximately 200 attendees at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation forum that “there is no clear answer” on the issues of when human life, or “personhood,” begins.

His own approach, he said, is that “an individual becomes a person when it can be individuated.”

Individuation of the developing embryo occurs at 12 to 14 days’ gestation; prior to that, a developing embryo may split and become twins, or two embryos may fuse and become a chimera, he said.

Embryonic stem cells used for research are made from cells from the 5- to 7-day-old embryo.

Father McCartney, who wore a business suit and tie, proffered what he termed “a pro-life argument” on behalf of using “spare” or frozen embryos left over from in vitro fertilization.

By using stem cells from these embryos for beneficial research, rather than simply discarding them, he said, “It seems to me we’re making the best of a bad situation.”

McCartney’s view of when life begins paralleled that of the other speakers, who agreed that it does not begin until the embryo implants in the uterus, at 12 to 14 days.

Dr. Curt Civin, a Johns Hopkins researcher specializing in pediatric oncology, asserted that, although science is “helpful” in clarifying the stages of life, the decision of when human life begins is really a religious and philosophical one.

“Science will tell you that when the sperm fertilizes the ovum, that’s a pretty good point for the emergence of life,” said Dr. Civin; “but you can say, I’m not going to try to define it with the microscope, I’m going to define life at implantation.”

Most embryos fail to successfully implant anyway, Civin claimed; moreover, in the first 14 days, before implantation, “It has no structures – no brain or other organs.  

“Before this time, you couldn’t accuse this thing of being anything other than a clump of cells.”

Embryonic stem cells are superior to adult stem cells for research because they can form all cell types of the body, whereas adult stem cells are less “plastic,” said Civin.

The researcher strongly endorsed the 2005 Maryland Stem Cell Research Bill, which would provide $25 million in state funding.

“What diseases can be helped by stem cells?  Potentially, seventy.  It would be a shame if this research would be sucked out to California!”

With the bill’s passage, he said, “the people, the jobs and the latest and best medicine will remain here.  Maryland will continue to be a capital of stem cell research, biotech and cures.”

Presenting the Jewish position, Rabbi Irving Breitowitz, who teaches at the University of Maryland School of Law, reminded the forum that “Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land:  the Supreme Court declared the fetus is not a person within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“When it comes to research on embryos, there is no constitutional way the state can prevent it.”

The debate, therefore, is not whether stem cell research should be prohibited or outlawed, but to what extent the state should fund it, said Breitowitz.

Jews do not consider a fetus to be a person, he said; but he considers creating human embryos for research as demeaning for the potentiality of life.

But, he added, “I very much support the retrieval of stem cells where the embryo would be discarded.  I believe when you’re dealing with a spare embryo, the balance can be struck in favor of alleviating pain and suffering.”

Following Rabbi Breitowitz’s presentation, Father McCartney returned to the microphone, apparently having second thoughts over having failed to present the Catholic Church’s position on stem cell research in his address.

“Even though we’re not positive that life begins at fertilization, we treat it with a respect for the sanctity of life,” said the priest.

In the Middle Ages, he said, the Church believed that life began at 30 days’ gestation for men and at 60 days for women.

“The Church was sexist even then!” he quipped, provoking a spate of laughter.

He noted that the Church has “a problem” with both in vitro fertilization – “it’s considered baby-making to the exclusion of love-making” – and contraception – “love-making without the possibility of baby-making.

“The Church is opposed to embryonic stem cell research; that’s the official teaching of the Church,” said McCartney.

Nevertheless, theologians raise questions:  the fact that many “fertilized eggs” do not implant has been used by theologians to question when life begins, he said.

“We do ask questions, though we don’t speak the official position of the Church,” he concluded.

There is a great divergency of opinion within the Protestant community on embryonic stem cell research, said the Rev. Clyde Shallenberger, emeritus director of Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Chaplaincy Service.

Recent Episcopalian and Southern Baptist conventions have opposed such research, but the Presbyterian Church has endorsed it, and the United Church of Christ does not “object categorically” to it, said Shallenberger.

His own faith perspective makes him a strong proponent of this research, he said.  

“At the heart of the debate is, what is human life and when does it begin?

“I think this question can never be resolved by science alone.  It is my belief that human life begins only when the embryo is implanted.

“To deny the use of embryonic stem cells for research seems to me a malevolent attack; its endpoint is to relieve human suffering,” he concluded.

The forum began and ended with fervent plugs for the stem cell research bill by its chief sponsors.

“Write to the governor!  Tell the governor that this bill can make a difference in people’s lives.  That is the most important thing anyone can do to get funding for stem cell research,” urged Del. Samuel Rosenberg (D-Baltimore City).

Implying that Van Brooks, “the star of the Loyola football team who was paralyzed from the waist down” in a game last fall might benefit from such research, State Sen. Paula Hollinger (D-Baltimore Co.) declared, “The federal government has failed to provide funds, the existing stem cell lines are contaminated, so the states are stepping up.

“Contact your delegates, senators, and the governor, who has been no help on this issue,” said Hollinger.