19 December 2008

Media Release

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Right to Life New Zealand is opposed to the recommendation made to the Minister of Health, by the Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology, [ACART] that permission be granted for the use of human embryos for embryonic stem cell research in New Zealand.

It is a scientific fact that human life begins at conception. At the moment of conception the human embryo is endowed by its Creator with human rights, the foundation of these rights is the right to life, these rights are inalienable and can not be taken away. From conception the human embryo should be accorded the respect that is due to the human person. Human embryos are members of the human family and should be respected and protected.

Embryonic stem cell research entails the destruction of the human embryo. This is immoral and a violation of the human rights of the human embryo. The human embryo is not a potential human being but a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God’s loving creation. The destruction of the human embryo is a violation of the fifth commandment of God, Thou shalt not kill.

We all have a duty to defend the right to life of every human being. Embryonic stem cell research is part of a culture of death which has given us the killing of innocent and defenceless unborn children by abortion. We should oppose this culture of death and promote a culture of life by respecting and protecting the right to life of every human person from conception to natural death.

ACART contends that the use of so called ‘spare embryo’s from IVF clinics for embryonic research is justified on the grounds that these embryo’s are not required for implantation and well be destroyed. The end does not justify the means. The destruction of human persons can never be justified to promote medical research.

We have had more than ten years of research on embryonic stem cell lines that have produced no medical cures. Right to life applauds ethical research with  umbilical cord stem cells and adult stem cells that have produced more than seventy treatments for medical conditions, many more are anticipated.

Right to Life calls upon the Minister of Health to urgently defend life by rejecting the recommendation of ACART  to allow for the use of human embryos for research, and to reject a 18 months moratorium allowing for more research.

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