Church has reason to be discreet in one key area of stem cell debate

THE Catholic Church as an organisation has waged an extensive campaign in the last few weeks seeking to influence how the Tánaiste votes at a European Union Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels today.

The Catholic Church's view is that the Tánaiste should vote against proposed guidelines for the regulation of embryo stem cell research funded under European Union science and research programmes. The church feels that, in order to oppose the use of embryos in research, the Government should oppose guidelines which regulate how this research is conducted.

The Catholic Church's lobby campaign on this issue has involved not only individual prelates and Catholic commentators but has also involved the Irish Catholic Church as a body corporate. For example, in an unprecedented move, the Irish Catholic Church's top men sought a formal meeting with the Taoiseach so that they could raise this issue with him.

I don't recall the bishops as a delegation demanding to meet the Taoiseach about Aids in Africa, or to discuss the treatment of the Travelling community or even about the need to tackle child poverty. Of course, individual bishops may have had meetings with ministers to discuss these topics and some Catholic prelates and commentators have made important contributions on some of these issues.

However, no other issue in recent times has merited the Catholic Church as a corporate body seeking a meeting with Government at the highest level.

The issue of embryo stem cell research is a complex one, touching on matters of science, religion, ethics and politics. The topic has been aired extensively in the last few days. I don't intend to contribute to that debate per se in this column, not least because the Tánaiste, if she hasn't already voted by the time you read this, has certainly made her mind up.

However, I do want to deal with one aspect of the recent Church campaign.

The embryos being referred to in this debate about embryo stem cell research are embryos that have been created during the process of in-vitro fertilisation, more commonly known as IVF.

However, somehow the Irish Catholic Church has managed to come through the recent weeks of debate without drawing attention to the fact that it is diametrically opposed to IVF. The church's opposition to IVF itself is a central aspect of its opposition to embryo stem-cell research, but the Church and its spokespersons have skilfully avoided highlighting this because they know that IVF is increasingly popular among its flock.

IVF and other artificial fertilisation methods, although not widespread, are being availed of by an increasing number of couples in Ireland. As the Minster for Health said a couple of months ago, "advances have taken place in recent years in the capacity of medical science to intervene in the process of human reproduction. Techniques such as in-vitro fertilisation, the freezing and storage of sperm and artificial insemination by donor are available in Ireland and have enabled many couples to conceive children despite impaired fertility."

In some instances, IVF is provided by the public health system free of charge in this country. In fact there are proposals in Britain that IVF treatment will some day soon be available to all who seek it free of charge on the NHS.

The Catholic Church is completely opposed to IVF. In case I am accused of being selective in choosing which Catholic Church authority to quote for its teaching on IVF, I have decided to quote the Pope himself. Presumably he has the definitive say on this matter.

The issue of artificial fertilisation techniques, which includes IVF, is dealt with at length in an encyclical letter published by the current Pope on March 25, 1995.

The full and proper title of this document is "Evangelium Vitae addressed

by the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons, men and women of Religious, lay faithful and all people of good will on the value and inviolability of Human Life".

It is a lengthy text. It runs to almost 70 closely-typed pages and deals with the range of issues which touch on human life before and after birth.

To the best of my knowledge the views expressed by the Pope in this letter have not been repealed. When it comes to dealing with IVF a few things are clear from the encyclical. The Pope is very much opposed to IVF.

Firstly, he regards IVF as a threat to life. Secondly, he views IVF as immoral because it separates sex from conception. Thirdly, the Pope is very sceptical about claims that the use of 'spare' embryos for research is being done in the interest of medical progress.

THE above of course is my summary of the Pope's views on IVF. Readers can make up their own mind the encyclical letter in full is available on the Vatican website. However, what follows is the full passage of what the Pope has to say on the topic of artificial insemination at paragraph 14 of the encyclical.

"The various techniques of artificial reproduction, which would seem to be at the service of life and which are frequently used with this intention, actually open the door to new threats against life. Apart from the fact that they are morally unacceptable, since they separate procreation from the fully human context of the conjugal act, these techniques have a high rate of failure: not just in relation to fertilisation but with regard to the subsequent development of the embryo, which is exposed to the risk of death, generally within a very short space of time. Furthermore, the number of embryos produced is often greater than that needed for implantation in the woman's womb and these so-called 'spare embryos' are then destroyed or used for research which, under the pretext of scientific or medical progress, in fact reduces human life to the level of simple 'biological material' to be freely disposed of."

Unless they change meaning in the translation from the original Italian or Latin in which the encyclical was written, phrases used by the Pope such as "would seem," "so-called" and "pretext" make it clear that the Pope, as well as being morally opposed to IVF, is very sceptical about its effectiveness and is dismissive of the benefits which the use of 'spare' embryos in research could bring to tackling degenerative diseases or other medical conditions.

If we take nothing else away from the current debate, we should remember that like much of its teaching on many aspects of human reproduction, the Catholic Church adopts a very black and white, and at times unchristian, attitude to IVF.

The growing number of Catholic couples who are experiencing fertility difficulties know that in choosing to explore the option of IVF they not only face the medical and psychological trauma it involves but also must go against the teaching of their church.

Many are happy to do so in order to have the chance of experiencing the joy of having children.