Research on human embryos

The biomedical revolution has recently provided a lot of information about the prenatal world, which was not available to us before.

Advances in this modern science and the development of technology seem to provide evidence that the embryo is a human being much earlier than conventional thinking had hitherto believed.

In spite of this, the moral status of the human embryo is still one of the most hotly debated issues in bioethics today. Consensus, so far has not been reached in the scientific field about the precise moment that marks the beginning of individual life.

It is taken for granted that bioethics - a special branch of ethical science - should pay close attention to ethical principles. At the very least, the following basic norms of Christian ethics should be kept in mind as we proceed in our reflections on human embryos:

The end does not justify the means. Immoral actions, such as destroying human life, are never permissible even if an experiment is expected to yield beneficial results.

One cannot follow a line of action, based on facts that are only probable, when matters as vitally important as human life may be at stake. When unable to resolve a doubt about a morally relevant matter of fact, one should err on the side of caution.

For example, a hunter who is unsure whether a moving object is a beast or a man should assume it is a human being and refrain from any action which might be detrimental to that object.The encyclical Evangelium Vitae warns: "What is at stake is so important that, from the standpoint of moral obligation, the mere probability that a human person is involved would suffice to justify an absolutely clear prohibition of any intervention aimed at killing a human embryo".

The principle of free and informed consent is also applicable in the case of embryonic research. It follows that the couple who is the subject of embryonic experimentation should be counselled and informed about the risks associated with an intervention, the likelihood of success or failure and other possible solutions and options. It is also only fair that it should be made aware of the expenses and other sacrifices entailed in the process.

For some time now, infertility treatment involving embryo research to assist the conception of a new life has been available in various countries, including our own. But that treatment has been, in most cases, an intervention applied in favour of the embryo itself, that does not violate its right to live as a human individual.

The problems arise when the embryos themselves are being experimented upon or manipulated. Such practices, which violate divine law, have been legalised in a handful of European countries.

Laws - and our country should make a point of this - must never tolerate that human beings, even at their embryonic stage, be treated as objects of experimentation, be mutilated or destroyed, with the excuse that they are superfluous or incapable of developing normally.

It should be stressed, unhesitatingly, that methods of research in which embryos are killed, seriously damaged or spare embryos discarded, can never be ethically defensible.

Besides, forms of selection among human embryos, with a view to preserving the fittest or most desirable and discarding the rest, should be prohibited. Such practices or procedures are unjust because they involve decisions about the lives of human beings. They treat the unborn creature, not as a person, but as a mere object, to be used, at leisure, for experimentation purposes.

As long as any one of the abovementioned risks remain, research or interference, on foetuses, is ethically objectionable. The Church has long held this view, stating authoritatively: "The human being is to be respected as a person from the moment of conception and therefore from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognised, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life".

Moreover, decisions relating to biomedical research should not be left to an individual scientist or group. It is in the interests of mankind that they be taken by a committee of responsible men and women in which scientists, lawyers and ethicists are represented.

Clever and well-prepared legislation to set up this kind of committee and to lay down its competence and jurisdiction should find its place in every civilised country, including our own. And this should be backed up with measures that allow the authorities to enforce these rules.

It is important that we guard against the possibility of irresponsible research in our country. It would be useful to set up a regulatory body in this regard.