VATICAN CONDEMNS CLONING EXPERIMENT

UNCLAS VATICAN 006121 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI),EUR/PD/PA (HILTON),DRL/IRF (FARR FROM EMBASSY VATICAN MESSAGE NUMBER 209/01 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM SOCI TBIO VT SUBJECT: VATICAN CONDEMNS CLONING EXPERIMENT REFTEL: VATICAN 1745 ¶1. THE VATICAN HAS REITERATED ITS UNEQUIVOCAL CONDEMNATION OF HUMAN CLONING FOLLOWING THE ANNOUNCEMENT BY ADVANCED CELL TECHNOLOGY THAT IT HAD CARRIED OUT THE PROCEDURE. THE VATICAN UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 VATICA 06121 281208Z DECLARED THE EVENT AS A "GRAVE" DEVELOPMENT. THE VATICAN INSISTS THE CELLS ARE HUMAN LIFE AND THAT SCIENTISTS SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THEY ARE DEALING WITH HUMAN EMBRYOS INSTEAD OF TALKING ABOUT CLUSTERS OF CELLS. ¶2. CLAIMS OF THE THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF CLONED HUMAN EMBRYOS WERE OF PARTICULAR CONCERN FOR THE VATICAN, WHICH CRITICIZED THE HIERARCHY OF THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE APPARENTLY INTRODUCED BY THE THERAPIES. FOR THE VATICAN EVERY HUMAN LIFE, FROM CELL ONE TO NATURAL DEATH, HAS EQUAL VALUE. IF ONE PARTICULAR DEVELOPMENT STAGE IS SINGLED OUT FOR USE BY ANOTHER MORE MATURE STAGE, IT WARNED OF A NEW FORM OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON "STAGE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT" - AN EMBRYO BEING WORTH LESS THAN A FETUS, AN INFANT HAVING LESS VALUE THAN AN ADULT AND SO ON. THE VATICAN STATEMENT PROMOTED ALTERNATIVE STEM CELL RESEARCH AND THERAPY USING STEM CELLS FROM ADULTS AND SPONTANEOUSLY ABORTED FETUSES WHICH IT DECLARED SCIENTIFICALLY VALID AND MORALLY LICIT. ¶3. NOTE: POLOFF WAS TOLD BY A SENIOR OFFICIAL OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR LIFE (BIOETHICAL ISSUES) THAT HE FELT "BETRAYED" BY THE ADMINISTRATION WHICH HE EXPECTED TO PREVENT CLONING TAKING PLACE. THE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS 11/26 DECLARING CLONING "WRONG" WERE REPORTED BY VATICAN-BASED MEDIA. WE EXPECT THE VATICAN WILL APPRECIATE THE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS. END NOTE. ¶4. COMMENT: WE DO NOT EXPECT THE VATICAN TO CHANGE ITS POSITION ON HUMAN CLONING. HOWEVER, SHOULD THE PROCEDURE EVENTUALLY LEAD TO MATURE HUMAN "CLONES" TAKING THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY THEN THE VATICAN WOULD URGE FULL RESPECT AND RIGHTS TO UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 VATICA 06121 281208Z BE ACCORDED TO SUCH HUMAN BEINGS (REFTEL). THE VATICAN TAKES A SIMILAR APPROACH TO PEOPLE CONCEIVED BY "IN VITRO" AND OTHER WHAT IT DEFINES AS MORALLY ILLICIT PROCEDURES. END COMMENT. NICHOLSON UNCLASSIFIED > 2001VATICA06121 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED