What Does The Catholic Church Say Against Embryo Research?

The official doctrine of the Church states, ' It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material' (CCC. 2275). The Catholic Church strongly opposes the cloning of embryos for medical research, in addition to all forms of embryo experimentation. The Church considers a single embryo to be a human life in its own right. Therefore, the acceptance of some embryos for development and the destroying of others is considered as unethical.

The practice of destroying a human embryo is murder, a breech of the fifth Commandment, ' Though shalt not kill'. Although Catholicism is opposed to embryo research, it accepts some other forms of stem cell research. The Church argues that stem cells should be extracted from adult and umbilical cord tissues, a procedure harmless to the individual concerned, rather than taking them human embryos. Evidence shows that, at this moment in time, these "ethical" forms of stem cell research have proved more successful in curing people.