«Using this or any means to create innocent human lives solely to destroy them is an ultimate violation of research ethics,» said the cardinal, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities.
«If scientists will not voluntarily turn away from this abuse of science, a national and worldwide effort to ban human cloning is more urgently needed than ever,» he said in a statement.
He added: «Human cloning turns procreation into a manufacturing process, treating human life as a commodity made to preset specifications. Moreover, using this or any means to create innocent human lives solely to destroy them is an ultimate violation of research ethics.»
«Dozens of human embryos were created and destroyed to produce a single stem cell line for further research,» Cardinal Keeler said. «Also deeply troubling was the use of potentially harmful fertility drugs on 16 women, to produce 242 eggs for this experiment. These women were used as egg factories while their embryonic offspring were treated as nothing more than objects of research.»
