It would be stating the obvious
…if universal human rights were still based on the inherent dignity of each and every human being. But they’re not, what with the abortion and euthanasia movements gaining traction across the world.
So the Vatican came out with this last week.
The dignity of a person must be recognized in every human being from conception to natural death. This fundamental principle expresses a great “yes†to human life and must be at the center of ethical reflection on biomedical research, which has an ever greater importance in today’s world. The Church’s Magisterium has frequently intervened to clarify and resolve moral questions in this area.
However, new biomedical technologies which have been introduced in the critical area of human life and the family have given rise to further questions, in particular in the field of research on human embryos, the use of stem cells for therapeutic purposes, as well as in other areas of experimental medicine. These new questions require answers. The pace of scientific developments in this area and the publicity they have received have raised expectations and concerns in large sectors of public opinion. Legislative assemblies have been asked to make decisions on these questions in order to regulate them by law; at times, wider popular consultation has also taken place.
Sooo……it’s time for another clarification.
The USCCB put out the statement, some FAQs to get the rundown on this instruction, and a news release by Cardinal Francis George explaining its necessity.
“We welcome the Instruction as theologians, medical personnel, researchers and married couples consider new scientific and medical procedures that have profound ethical implications bearing upon the procreation of children and the integrity of marriage,” Cardinal George said in a December 12 statement. “We applaud developments which advance medical progress with respect for the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception,” he said. “We oppose discarding or manipulating innocent lives to benefit future generations, or promoting the creation of new human life in depersonalized ways that substitute for the loving union between a husband and wife.”
It’s a timely teaching document, especially with the resurgence of embryonic stem cell research and the aggressive push to redefine marriage and the morality of marriage practices.
The Instruction notes that “behind every ‘no’ in the difficult task of discerning between good and evil, there shines a great ‘yes’ to the recognition of the dignity and inalienable value of every single and unique human being called into existence.”
Cardinal George also noted that Dignitas Personae approves fertility treatments that “succeed in re-establishing the normal function of human procreation” as well as “stem cell research and therapies that respect the inherent dignity of the human person.” He also noted the Instruction’s encouragement for assisting infertile couples through both adoption and research into infertility.
The Instruction also considers the challenge faced by researchers and families arising from the proposed use of unethically obtained cells and tissues, for example, in making vaccines. It states that researchers have a duty to distance themselves and their work from unjust situations created by others and to affirm the inviolable dignity of human life.
It’s the renewal of a concerted effort to state the obvious, that all human beings have dignity and universal human rights. And there is no redefining of human beings in assessing those rights.
