Catholic Doctrine On Invitro Fertilization
I started this Thread for Discussion on the Catholics position on life: cloning, embryonic research, stem cell research, etc.
Catholic Doctrine On In Vitro Fertilization (Hover)
I don't know that I agree totally with the Catholic Church on these issues, but they have remained consistent. They haven't changed their opinion to bow to public pressure. The Catholic Church fully believes all life should be determined by God. They don't even believe in any unnatural means of birth control. For the Catholic Church, it is up to God if you become pregnant or not. I believe they were opposed to "test tube" babies as well. (Invitro Fertilization) This is now a somewhat routine procedure for infertile couples these days. I don't know if the Church still opposes IVF pregnancies or not. I wonder if human cloning will become like IVF for infertile couples as well someday.
PRIESTS URGE STEM CELL OPPOSITION
The battle over embryonic stem cell research moved into the pews Sunday, as Roman Catholic priests across Missouri urged churchgoers to oppose a petition seeking a constitutional amendment that would protect the controversial work.
Ref. https://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/27/stemcell....s.ap/index.html
New Vatican Document Reaffirms Opposition to Cloning, Embryonic Research
The Vatican (LifeNews.com) -- The Catholic Church released a new document on Friday that reaffirms its opposition to anti-life bioethics practices like human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. The document also tackles problems with in-vitro fertilization and even embryo adoption. The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the papers, known as "The Dignity of a Person" to provide more clarity on the Catholic pro-life teachings as they relate to bioethics issues. It confirms the teachings set forth by the Pontifical Academy for Life that human life begins at conception, or fertilization, and that human beings should not be created by scientists in a lab setting. The document opposes the practices of human cloning and embryonic stem cell research because they involve the purposeful creation and destruction of human life. But the teaching also extends to in-vitro fertilization -- which can include the creation of multiple human embryos who will only wind up destroyed. That means the Catholic Church is also opposed to selective reduction of embryos, pre-implantation diagnosis and embryo freezing. Regarding embryo adoption, the document lauds pro-life advocate who support the "praiseworthy" goals of adopting human embryos instead of letting them die in fertility clinics. But it said embryo adoption puts a good face on the practice of destroying human life.
Ref. Source 7
Vatican Puts $1 Million Behind Adult Stem Cell Research
The Catholic Church is teaming up with a biotech firm that is engaging in adult stem cell research - helping prove its contention that it is supportive of stem cell research without destroying human life. Ref. Source 9
Catholic Church: Unborn Children Have a Soul at Conception
We continue our study today of a little-known and little-studied 1974 document from the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith entitled:
Declaration on Procured Abortion
Read Part I here.
Today we turn to the document's treatment of the Church's varied voices on when the body is infused with a soul. This is critical, because so many proaborts look selectively to voices from within the Church that have fixed a point some time after fertilization. What they do not do is point to the universal condemnation of abortion at every stage, going all the way back to our most ancient document of apostolic teaching, The Didache (pronounced DID-a-kay), subtitled, The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations.
Here are excerpts from the Declaration on Procured Abortion, followed by the footnotes from the text, and then a few words of analysis: Ref. Source 8
Catholic Church Not Unsympathetic to Infertile Couples
The Catholic Church is often portrayed as unsympathetic to infertile couples. Because the Church finds IVF wrong, others mistakenly believe that the Church has no compassion for the pain and heartbreak of infertility. That is simply untrue. In fact, recently the Pope called for more research into the causes of infertility so that life could be created where it is supposed to be created, in a mother's womb and not in a lab.
The Church wants the best not just for the children, but for the infertile couples as well. Ref. Source 7