Pope’s tough stance on assisted fertility

REGARDING the article ‘Pope takes tough line on assisted fertility’ (Irish Examiner, May 31):

I commend Pope Benedict XVI for his hard stand against the referendum in Italy on June 12 and 13 that seeks to overturn key provisions in a law passed last year that bans donations of sperm and eggs; defines life as beginning at conception; and allows fertility treatment only to “stable heterosexual couples” who are living together and can prove infertility.

Reproductive technologies such as in-vitro fertilisation are used to produce embryos in laboratories where they are observed and manipulated.