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1.: What Is a "Life Issue?" By Frank Cocozzelli From: Stephen Meyer

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1.: What Is a "Life Issue?" By Frank Cocozzelli

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" Stephen276@comcast.net stephen_meyer_stemcells

Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:43 am (PDT)

What Is a "Life Issue?" By Frank Cocozzelli
<http://www.talk2action.org/user/Frank%20Cocozzelli> Sat Jun 21, 2008
at 10:11:02 AM EST [printable version] print story
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<http://www.buzzflash.net/submit.php?url=http://www.talk2action.org/stor\
y/2008/6/21/10112/8151> The Catholic Right, Part Sixty
On June 13, 2008 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
<http://www.usccb.org/whoweare.shtml> approved a declaration
<http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/bishopsESCRstmt.pdf>
condemning embryonic stem cell research. Bill Donohue's Catholic League
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/6/4/104521/2225> issued an
immediate statement of support
<http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1446> , proclaiming, "The
life issues, then, are of preeminent importance to Catholics. To discuss
social justice, for example, while being dismissive of the life issues
is profoundly un-Catholic."
But as a Catholic who both actively supports and would benefit from
<http://www.stempac.com/weblog/diary/?storyId=566&authorId=5286874>
this research, I began to wonder, what does it take for something to
truly constitute a life issue for the princes of the Church?
topic: Church/State Separation
<http://www.talk2action.org/?op=search&topic=government> A few
posts back I was a bit optimistic that with its concern for Global
Warming that the Church hierarchy was beginning to understand just how
out of proportion with the need for Social Justice
<http://www.osjspm.org/major_themes.aspx> its take-no-prisoners
attitude on issues such as abortion, birth control and stem cell
research actually is. Sadly, I stand corrected.
In its most recent proclamation on stem cell research the U.S Bishops
again resort to bad science to make a dogmatic point. For example, they
seriously misstate the value of both adult and embryonic stem cells in
treating disease and disability:
Nature in fact provides ample resources for pursuing medical progress
without raising these grave moral concerns. Stem cells from adult
tissues and umbilical cord blood are now known to be much more versatile
than once thought. These cells are now in widespread use to treat many
kinds of cancer and other illnesses, and in clinical trials they have
already benefited patients suffering from heart disease, corneal damage,
sickle-cell anemia, multiple sclerosis, and many other devastating
conditions. (1) Researchers have even developed new non-destructive
methods for producing cells with the properties of embryonic stem
cells-for example, by "reprogramming" adult cells. There is no moral
objection to research and therapy of this kind, when it involves no harm
to human beings at any stage of development and is conducted with
appropriate informed consent. Catholic foundations and medical centers
have been, and will continue to be, among the leading supporters of
ethically responsible advances in the medical use of adult stem cells.
This is a deliberately misleading statement. As far as a new technique
that could potentially reprogram embryonic stem cells from skin cells
cells are concerned, the independent, National Catholic Reporter more
soberly explained
<http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2008a/011108/011108n.htm> :
If headlines turn out to be prophetic, Nov. 20, 2007, was a historic day
in the decade-long ethical debate over embryonic stem-cell research.
"Scientists Bypass Need for Embryo to Get Stem Cells," reads The New
York Times. "Major leap for stem cells," the Chicago Tribune added.
"Advance May End Stem Cell Debate," chimed The Washington Post.
But headline prophecies are a tricky business and less than two months
later, it appears The Washington Post was wise to use the word, "may."
Additionally, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, one of the two researchers who
discovered the technique told
<http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2008a/011108/011108n.htm>
AFP News Services:
TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese scientist who helped produce stem cells from
skin says controversial research on human embryos must continue for now,
as it will take time to put the new breakthrough into practical
use..."It was a breakthrough. It allowed us to see a goal. But the goal
is far off in the distance," Shinya Yamanaka, the leader of the Kyoto
University research team, told AFP in an interview.
The bishops conveniently left out those important facts. But not
content with fudging science, the bishops then engaged in a bit of
historical revision:
This is not only a teaching of the Catholic Church. Our nation's
Declaration of Independence took for granted that human beings are
unequal in size, strength, and intelligence. Yet it declared that
members of the human race who are unequal in all these respects are
created equal in their fundamental rights, beginning with the right to
life. Tragically, this principle of equal human rights for all has not
always been followed in practice, even by the Declaration's signers. But
in our nation's proudest moments Americans have realized that we cannot
dismiss or exclude any class of humanity-that basic human rights must
belong to all members of the human race without distinction. In light of
modern knowledge about the continuity of human development from
conception onwards, all of us-without regard to religious
affiliation-confront this challenge again today when we make decisions
about human beings at the embryonic stage of development.
This is nothing more than George Weigel-Robert P. George-Michael Novak
neoconservative hogwash being substituted for historical fact. As I've
written here <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/12/30/13513/174>
and elsewhere
<http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v23n2/how_roman_catholic_neocons.html\
> , the natural law principles expounded by the Founders were far more
evolved than those adhered to of the Catholic Church's most orthodox
thinkers. Men such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were students
of Richard Hooker <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hooker> and
John Locke <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke> . And as for the
Founders, while they did not does speak of or even hint of embryos in
the Declaration of Independence, their intent can be better inferred by
Article II
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitut\
ion> of the United States Constitution where personhood is described as
a natural born Citizen.
It is not difficult see that players of the Catholic Right were pivotal
in putting forth this declaration. As the Independent Catholic News
reported <http://www.indcatholicnews.com/usembr438.html> , a familiar
name was involved:
In presenting the document, Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph F Naumann
announced that another statement would be issued soon, "addressed
especially to Catholic engaged and married couples (including those
struggling with infertility), to explain the Church's teaching on
reproductive technologies such as 'in vitro' fertilization."
As you may recall from Part Fifty-seven
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/5/19/205630/099> of this series,
Archbishop Naumann threatened Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebellius with
denial of the Sacrament of Holy Communion for vetoing restrictive
abortion legislation sent to her desk for signing. Sebellius, a
Catholic, is a frequently mentioned possible running mate for
presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
In reading that line, two thoughts immediately appeared in my mind: 1)
Archbishop Naumann is wading deeper into the abortion politics game; and
2) Next he will begin denying Communion to Catholics who practice birth
control. If anything, Naumann's high-profile pronouncment is a clear
indication that hard-line social conservatives are not only asserting
themselves within the ranks of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, but are prepared to continue their noxious interventions in
American politics in the service of distorted dogma.
As an American Catholic, I question who are these people to speak for
people of other faiths, let alone for we faithful who support this
research on theological grounds? What of our Jewish, Anglican and UCC
brethren who believe that we are commanded by God to pursue this
potentially life-saving research?
As I previously observed
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/6/93546/13573> :
And so out of a combination of fear, reaction and yes, isolation, the
faction that now controls the Vatican gives aid and comfort to those who
share their dislike of modernity; neoconservatives and others who look
disapprovingly upon the Enlightenment and its progeny. They do so at the
expense of the natural born mostly for the protection of the fetus and
embryo. The Vatican and their allied neo-orthodox Americans such as
Richard John Neuhaus
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/8/11/14843/8450> have made
abortion such a litmus test issue to the points where one's position on
"life" is too narrowly defined as "abortion or not." Other "life"
issue, such as health insurance for children
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/20/9463/6330> and curing
disease are unjustifiably given the short shrift.
Are these clergy so aloof that they will place the status of a
blastocyst <http://www.advancedfertility.com/blastocystimages.htm> - a
clump of cells with no primitive streak
<http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-476523/primitive-streak> (the
structure that forms in the early stages of embryonic development, the
beginning of a central nervous system) above the needs of a seven
year-old child whose short, precious life is threatened by juvenile
diabetes, muscular dystrophy or some other devastating illness?
Isn't this too a legitimate "life issue?"
But it appears that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, like the
increasingly dogmatic Vatican hierarchy it speaks for, is more concerned
about life in the abstract than about lives in the real world.
(1) In general see the site www.stemcellresearch.org. Current clinical
trials using adult and cord blood stem cells can be viewed at the site
ClinicalTrials.gov by using the search term "stem cell."
The Catholic Right: A Series, by Frank L. Cocozzelli :
Part One <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/8/72320/82268> Part
Two <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/16/201710/016> Part Three
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/23/82935/0830> Part Four
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/6/4/104521/2225> Part Five
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/6/20/161851/677> Part Six
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/6/25/12735/8807> Intermezzo
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/7/18/16483/1526> Part Eight
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/8/12/102839/012> Part Nine
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/9/3/102738/5110> Part Ten
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/9/23/135525/409> Part Eleven
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/9/30/153018/850> Part Twelve
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/10/9/162913/621> Part Thirteen
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/10/22/93447/659> Part Fourteen
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/10/29/14391/976> Second
Intermezzo <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/11/5/162719/121>
Part Sixteen <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/11/19/14369/238>
Part Seventeen <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/11/26/161847/02>
Part Eighteen <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/12/23/102445/59>
Part Eighteen <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/12/23/102445/59>
Part Nineteen <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/1/6/21324/54744>
Part Twenty <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/1/15/94844/5458>
Part Twenty-one
<http://www.talk2action.org/admin/story/2007/1/21/134454/051> Part
Twenty-two <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/2/9/185313/3896>
Part Twenty-three
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/2/19/1480/64082> Part
Twenty-four
<http://www.talk2action.org/admin/story/2007/3/3/214059/9546> Part
Twenty-five <http://www.talk2action.org/> Part Twenty-six
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/4/29/15140/0729> Part
Twenty-seven <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/5/5/10522/79375>
Part Twenty-eight
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/5/13/101113/408> Part
Twenty-nine <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/5/19/193721/515>
Part Thirty
<http://www.talk2action.org/admin/story/2007/5/26/14405/9350> Part
Thirty-one <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/6/2/95313/98784>
Part Thirty-two <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/7/14/84524/4542>
Part Thirty-three
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/7/21/152153/103> Part
Thirty-four <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/7/28/92824/6304>
Part Thirty-five <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/8/5/85647/37604>
Part Thirty-six <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/8/11/14843/8450>
Part Thirty-seven
<http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/9/15/204842/863> Part
Thirty-eight <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/9/23/10019/3685>
Part Thirty-nine <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/9/30/185549/826>
Part Forty <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/7/144951/317>
Part Forty-one <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/14/103915/79>
Part Forty-two <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/20/9463/6330>
Part Forty-three <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/28/95610/502>
Part Forty-four <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/11/3/95345/2216>
Part Forty-five <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/11/10/202932/61>
Part Forty-six <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/12/8/91648/2989>
Part Forty-seven <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/12/22/2095/1841>
Part Forty-eight <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/6/93546/13573>
Part Forty-nine <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/19/14360/0868>
Part Fifty <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/2/3/152215/6332>
Part Fifty-one <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/3/1/2058/11800>
Part Fifty-two <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/3/15/155758/128>
Part Fifty-three <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/4/14/123759/690>
Part Fifty-four <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/4/19/151344/729>
Part Fifty-five <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/4/27/84714/4719>
Part Fifty-six <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/5/3/20210/77101>
Part Fifty-seven <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/5/19/205630/099>
Part Fifty-eight <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/5/31/134213/766>
Part Fifty-nine <http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/6/7/83618/77113>
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