Madam, - Thank you for publishing the excellent Rite and Reason column by Father Kevin Doran, complemented by the wisdom and logic of Prof Eamon O'Dwyer (November 17th).
In just over a week the Irish delegation at the EU Council of Ministers will vote on whether funding should be made available for research resulting in the destruction of human embryos. It is difficult to imagine what reasons could justify approving such a proposal. The scientific evidence is far from convincing that embryonic stem-cells are more promising than adult stem-cells, so why provide funds for research in that area when the destruction of human embryos is so morally repugnant?
The allocation of scarce resources is always a moral question, involving values and priorities, concern for the common good and special care for the weaker members of society. Is it just possible that the present Government's over-riding focus on business and economics when deciding on how to spend taxpayers' money may dull their moral sense? I hope I will not be ashamed of the Irish vote on November 27th. - Yours, etc.,
Father SEAN FAGAN SM,
Lower Leeson Street,
Dublin 2.
Madam, - Father Kevin Doran's piece on stem cell research surely demonstrates that the Catholic Hierarchy has learned little from our recent history. It is clear and reasonable that the church believes life begins at conception and that embryos are fully fledged human beings. However, what is far from clear is whether the State or the people have ever believed this.
The pro-life movement, together with the Catholic Church, insisted on an amendment to the Constitution in 1983 to perpetuate a certain view of the world. Unwilling to accept the ruling of our Supreme Court in this area they insisted on two separate referendums in 1992 and 2002, both of which they lost.
Most significantly, the Catholic Hierarchy fully accepted and endorsed the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Bill, 2001 which proposed prohibiting an abortion after implantation of the embryo in the womb. In other words, the Bill they supported allowed precisely the activity Father Doran now decries. Are Father Doran and the Catholic Church now abandoning this position? - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL McLOUGHLIN, Riverwood Heath, Castleknock, Dublin 15.