I want to return to the timely issue of embryonic stem-cell research. In moral and ethical debates, the use of language is very critical. I remember growing up during the Cold War thinking it humorous when in the former Soviet Union someone fell from favor, they were declared a non-person. In Nazi Germany, Jews and other groups, e.g., the mentally and physically disabled, were defined as sub-human, allowing them to be used for scientific experimentation. Sadly in our own American history, those of African descent were considered by our laws and the courts as less than fully human, allowing them to be enslaved and treated as another person's property.

Defining people as non-persons or as sub-human is an old strategy employed by those who want to use, to abuse and/or to mistreat a certain group of individuals. As we seek to form our consciences on this issue, we must be aware of the efforts by proponents of embryonic stem-cell research to use deceptive language and terms. Early in the debate on this issue, it became apparent to the proponents of embryonic stem-cell research that most Americans instinctually oppose human cloning.

The Catholic Church opposes human cloning for the same reason it opposes in vitro fertilization. The church believes that every human being has the right to be conceived in love by a mother and father. Human beings, even if it is scientifically and technologically possible, are not meant to be manufactured in petri dishes and laboratories.

Even though couples can be well-intentioned in their efforts to conceive a child, in vitro fertilization is always a serious moral evil. One of the reasons it is such a serious evil is that the process often requires the manufacturing of several human embryos, most of which are destroyed or preserved indefinitely in frozen storage.

In the case of embryonic stem-cell research, scientists want to manufacture human embryos with the intention of never allowing any of them to proceed with normal human development. These scientists want to manufacture these tiny human beings to use their cells for their laboratory studies and experiments, which they hope may one day lead to some effective human therapy, although in 25 years of animal experimentation, scientists have yet to demonstrate a successful therapy.

One of the problems encountered in the animal research with embryonic stem cells is that they have caused severe immune rejection. One theory for preventing this in humans would be to develop "genetically matched" stem cells for transplants. The process proposed to accomplish this has been called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT, which is a form of cloning. In fact, it is the same process that was used to clone Dolly, the famous cloned sheep.

The Greek word "soma" means "body." SCNT takes a cell from the patient's body (somatic cell) and "transfers" it to a woman's egg cell whose own nucleus has been removed. The techniques for doing this can vary somewhat, but the end result is the same: a new human embryo that begins developing along the same pathway as any other human embryo. This embryo is the patient's clone or "genetic twin." ÿIf the process worked, the cloned embryo would be allowed to develop for 5-7 days, at which time it would be destroyed to collect its stem cells.

Although SCNT is a high-tech way to obtain embryonic stem cells, it does not avoid the same moral and ethical problem of destroying innocent human life. In 1987 the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, published a document entitled "Donum Vitae" ("The Gift of Life") that dealt with many of the moral and ethical issues being raised by scientific research and new medical procedures. "Donum Vitae" states: "It is immoral to produce human embryos destined to be exploited as disposable 'biological material.' . It is a duty to condemn the particular gravity of the voluntary destruction of human embryos obtained in vitro for the sole purpose of research, either by means of artificial insemination or by means of 'twin fission'" (no. 1:5). ÿ

The last part of this statement is especially important because "twin fission" is another form of human cloning. The church anticipated in 1987 the ethical issues that we would be facing today. It confirmed the essential ethical principle that human life can never be used like a thing or a product, no matter what good might result for another human being. In my home state of Missouri, there is an effort to collect signatures to place a state constitutional amendment on the ballot that claims to ban human cloning, while it is crafted in such a way as to allow for the exact technique used to clone Dolly the sheep - somatic cell nuclear transfer. This is a very cynical effort that is funded by those who stand to profit by human embryonic stem-cell research. Sadly, some well-known and respected political leaders, who generally oppose abortion, have endorsed this amendment and its deceptive language. People are being led to believe that in supporting the amendment they are banning human cloning, when in fact the amendment will give constitutional protection to those scientists who wish to do human cloning for scientific experimentation.

There has also been enormous pressure placed on leaders in the business community both in Missouri and Kansas to support embryonic stem-cell research, claiming that it is essential for economic development in both states. The proponents of embryonic stem-cell research are very adept at hype and exaggeration when it comes to promising future medical cures and future economic benefits to the region. The reality is that our state can remain a center for medical research and scientific development without tying our future to this one very narrow field of research.

However, even if their claims were true, the moral and ethical question must always precede the economic. The first and most important question cannot be: Will it bring wealth to our states? The primary question must be whether cloning is morally acceptable. Or, stated another way: Can we pursue this research without harming another human being and our own humanity in the process? ÿThe answer to those questions is clear: No.

The church is not alone in its moral and ethical concerns. Over 60 countries around the world have banned all forms of human cloning, including Germany, Canada, and France. The bottom line morally is abundantly clear: Embryonic stem-cell research and somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning) are unethical because they involve manufacturing and then destroying human life for scientific research.

Science has done and can do so much good, but it needs to be tethered to sound moral and ethical principles. We do not have to go to Nazi Germany to find examples of scientists using human subjects for research. In the 20th century in the United States, researchers conducting the infamous Tuskegee study failed to treat a group of African-American men for their illness, giving them placebos instead, so that they could study the progression of their disease.

Politicians, business leaders and the people of Kansas should not be bullied by scientists who want to do human cloning and to conduct research on human embryos. Economic and scientific progress can never be purchased at the cost of compromising the most fundamental values - namely, the sanctity of every human life and the dignity of each human being no matter how small or at what stage of development.

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