Sydney
30 June 2002
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Pilgrims walk to shrine
Vatican outlaws ‘Little Pebble’ – order to disband
Winter: tough on struggling families
Media helped victims to come forward
Standing ovation at Mass for Archbishop Pell
Will Pope quiz PM on stem-cell issue?
Trivia, Survivor test push appeal towards its target
Support for Govt stand on war court
Songs for all: eternity
Come Back! The Church Loves You
Research backs adult stem cells
Honour for priest, a ‘brilliant academic’
Fr Damien role is ‘uplifting’ – actor
Editorial: Love of a martyr
Letters: Political parties and morals
Conversation: Teaching teachers in a land of optimism - Frances O'Keeffe, teacher
Reflections: ‘Good old days’ are starting now
Will Pope quiz PM on stem-cell issue?
By Johanna Bennett
Federal Labor MP John Murphy wants Pope John Paul II to try to impress on Prime Minister John Howard the immorality of using embryos for stem-cell research when the two meet next week.
The Member for Lowe is a strong opponent of the use of embryos for research purposes. He says their use is “unethical and immoral” and could also lead to a trade in embryos.
He spoke to The Catholic Weekly two days before Federal Parliament was due to debate the issue with the first reading of a bill proposing that scientists be allowed to use Australian embryos in their research work.
John Murphy was deputy chairman of the Senate committee that conducted a two-year inquiry into human cloning and embryonic stem-cell research.
“At that time embryonic stem cells were being purchased from Singapore,” he said. “Now scientists say they want new stemcell lines using surplus embryos that they say are going to be destroyed anyway.
“This research is being driven by scientists who have invested a lot of money in it and are being driven by self-interest.”
He said sick people were being “conned by those with a scientific agenda” when there were other viable avenues of research using adult stem cells and cells from the umbilical cords of newborns.
These had shown far more promise when it came to helping those seriously ill with, for example, diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease, as well as those in wheelchairs suffering from severed spine injuries.
“Adult stem-cell research is showing most positive indications for people who have serious illnesses, while embryonic research is just speculative,” Murphy said. “I think they want to trade in embryos.”
Dr Warwick Neville, a consultant with the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has raised similar concerns.
In IVF embryos and morality (CW 12/5), he said in vitro fertilisation (IVF) had become a $60 million-a-year business in Australia with the industry now pushing for access to the 60,000 frozen IVF embryos now in store.