Church ‘vigorously supports adult stem cell research’

By David Myers

Southwest Kansas Register

There’s a good chance Father Wesley Schawe, parochial vicar at Prince of Peace Parish in Great Bend, shocked more than a few people gathered for his workshop at the Aug. 25 Stewardship Day, when he said, “The Catholic Church vigorously supports adult stem cell research.”

Supports? Isn’t the Church supposed to oppose stem cell research?

“The Church is strongly opposed to embryonic stem cell research,” he explained to those gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Most people have no idea that there are two different types of stem cell research.”

At its heart and soul, stewardship is about promoting life. The issue of stem cell research, Father Schawe said, is “central to who we are and to living the Gospel mandate.”

Here are the facts: Adult stem cell research takes stem cells (“undifferentiated” cells that can be used to create healthy tissue) from adults, children, or from an umbilical cord, with no harm to the person. These cells have already proven beneficial, most notably in rebuilding bone marrow for those suffering from Leukemia. Embryonic stem cells, on the other hand, have yet to be shown to provide any benefits, and, more importantly, cannot be collected without the killing of a pre-born human life.

“The only way to get embryonic stem cells is to kill the embryo,” Father Schawe said. While this is the most ardent reason to oppose embryonic stem cell research, it’s not the only reason. “For all this research to happen, there have to be hundreds of thousands of eggs made available. Where will they come from?” The act, he said, risks placing women in the most vulnerable positions – the poor; students -- in harms way by those practicing harmful methods of egg harvesting.

The issue of stem cell research reflects another highly controversial issue, cloning, for cloning is also used to get embryonic stem cells – those cells only acquired with the destruction of a fetus. The debate reaches back to that same argument that has propelled both sides of the abortion debate: When does life begin?

Quoting from several biology texts that have only science as their foundation, Father Schawe made clear that the scientific community supports the notion that life begins with the fertilization of the egg. The problem, he said, is that “some people argue that even if it’s a life, it’s not a person. That’s a slippery slope. When Katrina struck, the last people saved were prisoners and the elderly. When is it okay to diminish the value of a human life?”

This issue hits closer to home than most people realize.

“Why is it important to talk about stem cell research in Kansas?” Father Schawe asked. “It has to do with what happened in Missouri last year. They voted to fund embryonic stem cell research. With only a highway separating us, you can be sure that people are trying to have the same thing passed here.”