Troubled by Decision on Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Detroit's Cardinal Maida Reacts to White House Announcement

    DETROIT, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Detroit's archbishop, Cardinal Adam
 Maida, comments on White House announcement on embryonic stem cell research:
 
     "While there is -- and always will be -- a moral component to this issue,
 for me, this comes down to a basic question of human rights.  Regardless of
 its status in the laboratory queue, a so-called 'spare' or discarded embryo is
 no less the beginning of personhood than any other human embryo.  Making it a
 part of controlled research projects doesn't change its genesis ... its
 dignity ... its humanity.
     "We remember here in Michigan when scores of weak, vulnerable people were
 victimized at the end of their lives with claims of false mercy and
 compassion.  We saw the slippery slope in action.  These tiny specks ...
 these stem cells ... are no less vulnerable.  They deserve our protection,
 not experimentation.  Our government should not be funding their destruction
 in the name of progress, no matter how limited or well-intentioned the
 research."
 
 

SOURCE  Archdiocese of Detroit