Wisconsin bishops release pastoral letter on stem-cell research

By Franz Klein
Catholic News Service

LA CROSSE, Wis. (CNS) – Wisconsin's bishops are calling for "reasonable standards for the protection of human life and dignity" in an April 29 pastoral letter addressing embryonic stem-cell research.

Without being specific, the bishops said their letter is not meant to "'impose' narrow doctrinal beliefs" on the broader community, but to recognize that "we are called to harness new developments at the cutting edge of science in ways that respect the dignity of all human life, especially in its most vulnerable stages."

Released by the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the two-page letter, "Serving All and Sacrificing None," was signed by Bishops Jerome E. Listecki of La Crosse, Peter F. Christensen of Superior and Robert C. Morlino of Madison, and Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee, who also is administrator of the vacant Green Bay Diocese.

The issue is especially contentious in Wisconsin because taxpayers fund embryonic stem-cell research through the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Stem-Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center.

"We're trying to frame the issue in the truth," Bishop Listecki told The Catholic Times, newspaper of the La Crosse Diocese. "If you read the secular media, you would think the church is against science. That's not the case though. We oppose science that attacks the human person."

In their letter, the bishops repeatedly cite the dignity of the embryo as a human life which must be protected at all times. They said they recognize that some people struggle to understand how "a small group of cells invisible to the naked eye deserves the same protection as the life of a baby in the womb, a child in the crib or a person sitting next to us in church."

At the same time, the bishops said, it is scientists who "have demonstrated that the single cell, or zygote that results from fertilization, contains the complete genetic information necessary for the development of a unique human being. It is scientists who have shown us that human development is a continuous uninterrupted process, from zygote, embryo, fetus, infant, child to adult."

Acknowledging the pressing need to discover cures for chronic and debilitating diseases, the bishops say that advances in adult stem-cell research have led to major breakthroughs without the loss of human life. "All of these advances demonstrate that the highest ethical standards can and must guide scientific progress," the letter said.

Bishop Listecki said helping the faithful understand how faith and science can work together is the letter's goal.

While science demonstrates that human life begins at fertilization, faith provides the context of the dignity of every human life, Bishop Listecki said.

"So it's important to frame the issue within the context of the dignity of the human person," the bishop explained. "No one would justify human experimentation on a child, no matter what good might come out of it. Moving our vision backward, every one of us was once a human embryo, too."

The bishops point to the 40-year Tuskegee syphilis study that began in 1932, during which treatment for syphilis was withheld from poor, African-American men in order to study the natural progression of the disease. The revelation of this study led to its public condemnation.

"Today, no one would dispute that ethical standards were sorely lacking in the Tuskegee study and that true scientific progress can be made only when those standards are securely in place," the bishops wrote.

"We ask for the same consideration in the case of stem-cell research," the bishops added, to affirm the personhood and dignity of the human embryo.

John Huebscher, Wisconsin Catholic Conference executive director, said the letter is intended as a starting point for Catholics to engage the culture on this important issue.

"The letter is not connected to an immediate legislative debate," he said. "This is simply a chance to contribute to a conversation that has gone on for a number of years and that we expect to go on for years into the future."

The conference also has developed resources to accompany the letter, including a question-and-answer document and a video. The video was produced in collaboration with the Kansas bishops' conference, which released similar resources last spring.