VATICAN CITY, AUG 29, 2000 (VIS) - "Attempts at human cloning with a view to obtaining organs for transplants: these techniques, insofar as they involve the manipulation and destruction of human embryos, are not morally acceptable, even when their proposed goal is good in itself. These words were pronounced by John Paul II in a talk he gave today to participants in the 18th International Congress on Transplants, which is being held in Rome.
The Pope continued: "Science itself points to other forms of therapeutic intervention which would not involve cloning or the use of embryonic cells, but rather would make use of stem cells taken from adults."
The Pope indicated that "this particular field of medical science, for all the hope of health and life it offers to many, also presents certain critical issues that need to be examined in the light of a discerning anthropological and ethical reflection. In this area of medical science too, the fundamental criterion must be the defence and promotion of the integral good of the human person, in keeping with that unique dignity which is ours by virtue of our humanity."
The Pope described organ donation as "a genuine act of love," and went on to highlight that "the human body cannot be considered as a mere complex of tissues, organs and functions, rather its is a constitutive part of the person. ... Accordingly, any procedure which tends to commercialize human organs or to consider them as items of exchange or trade must be considered morally unacceptable, because to use the body as an 'object' is to violate the dignity of the human person."
John Paul II also underlined the importance that organ donors be properly informed in order for their decision to be made freely and conscientiously. Should this prove impossible, then "the consent of relatives has its own ethical validity".
Vital organs must only be removed from the body of someone who is "certainly dead." This, he went on, "gives rise to one of the most debated issues in contemporary bioethics," the problem of "ascertaining the fact of death." In this regard, the Pope added, "it is helpful to recall that the death of the person is a single event, consisting in the total disintegration of the unitary and integrated whole that is the personal self. ... The death of the person, understood in this primary sense, is an event which no scientific technique or empirical method can identify directly. Yet human experience shows that once death occurs certain biological signs inevitably follow."
The criterion recently adopted "for ascertaining the fact of death, namely the complete and irreversible cessation of all brain activity, if rigorously applied, does not seem to conflict with the essential elements of a sound anthropology. ... Only where such certainty exists, and where informed consent has already been given by the donor or the donor's legitimate representatives, is it morally right to initiate the technical procedures for the removal of organs for transplant."
The Pope then dealt with another problem, that of "the allocation of donated organs through waiting-lists and the assignment of priorities. ... From the moral standpoint, an obvious principle of justice requires that the criteria ... should in no way be 'discriminatory' (i.e., based on age, sex, race, religion, social standing etc.) or 'utilitarian.' Instead, in determining who should have precedence in receiving an organ, judgements should be made on the basis of immunological and clinical factors."
The final problem he considered in his talk was that of so-called "xenotransplants, that is, organ transplants from other animal species." On this matter, the Pope recalled the words of his predecessor, Pius XII, in 1956: "in principle, he stated, for a xenotransplant to be licit, the transplanted organ must not impair the integrity of the psychological or genetic identity of the person receiving it; and there must be a proven biological possibility that the transplant will be successful and will not expose the recipient to inordinate risk."
John Paul II expressed the hope that "scientific and technological research in the field of transplants will continue to progress, and extend to experimentation with new therapies which can replace organ transplants. ... In any event, methods that fail to respect the dignity and value of the person must always be avoided. I am thinking in particular of attempts at human cloning with a view to obtaining organs for transplants."
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