Tallahassee - On Monday, September 26, the Catholic Bishops of Florida issued the statement "Supporting Ethical Stem Cell Research".  The Bishops' document offers an accurate overview of both the science and ethics of stem cell research and encourages support for the Citizens for Science and Ethics' (CSE) amendment to ensure that no revenue of the state will be spent on experimentation that involves destruction of a live human embryo.

"Many people are unaware that there are various types of productive and ethical stem cell research- those derived from adult, umbilical cord and placental stem cells - that do not entail destruction of nascent human life," said Bishop Thomas Wenski, Bishop of Orlando and Florida Catholic Conference Moderator for Health.  Wenski continued, "the Catholic community supports this research, however, we oppose experiments that rely on the destruction of a unique, living human being; further, we are troubled by proposals to use public funds, the peoples' monies, for practices to which many people hold strong moral and ethical objections."

In their statement, the Bishops indicate that they "are pleased that no state funds have been used to fund experimentation that destroys human embryos to date, but we lament that the state legislature has been unable to craft a workable framework that prohibits this activity or state funding for it into the future."   

The Bishops point out that without an amendment like CSE's, "the people of Florida will be at risk for cooperation in destructive embryo research by supporting it with our tax revenues.  In addition, Floridians may fund experiments that are not only unethical, but less promising than other avenues of research."

Please click here to access entire statement, Supporting Ethical Stem Cell Research. 

                                                        #                  #                    #