Why Respect for the Human Embryo?

Department of Health and Social Security, Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Fertilization and Embryology, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1984, p. 65.

“Despite our division on this point, a majority of us recommend that the legislation should provide that research may be carried out on any embryo resulting from in vitro fertilization, whatever its provenance, up to the end of the fourteenth day after fertilization.” Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Fertilization and Embryology, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1984, p. 65.

Irving Dianne N. “The Woman and the Physician Facing Abortion: The Role of Correct Science in the Formation of Conscience and the Moral Decision Making Process,” Paper delivered at the Scientific Conference “The Guadalupan Appeal”, Mexico City, Mexico, October 28, 1999, p. 17–18.

The medical literature does not employ the term pre-embryo or support this concept. However, as Dianne Irving indicates various ethicists and committee members who wrote the 1994 Human Embryo Research Report for the NIH ignore embryology textbooks and endorse the notion of pre-embryo. See Irving Dianne N. , “When do Human Beings Begin? ‘Scientific’ Myths and Scientific Facts,” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 1999, 19: 3/4: 22–47.

An embryologist Keith Moore writes “Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm (spermatozoon) unites with a female gamete or oocyte (ovum) to form a single cell, the zygote.” Moore, Keith L., Persaud, T.V.N., Before We are Born: Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1998, p. 36. Another embryologist, Waheed Rana writes “Embryonic life commences with fertilization which is the progression of events that begins when a spermatozoon makes contact with an oocyte or its investments, and ends with the intermingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes at metaphase of the first mitotic division of the zygote.” Rana , Waheed M. Human Embryology Made Easy, Overseas Publishers Association, Amsterdam, 1998, p. 25.

Totipotent cells are those capable of forming all types of cells, and even to develop into an embryo. Pluripotent cells are those with the capacity to form many, but not all, cell types.

The first nervous system stem cells were identified in rats as recently as 1992 and since then they have been identified in humans. Stemple D.L. , and Anderson D. J. , “Isolation of a Stem Cell for Neurons and Glia from the Mamilian Neural Crest,” Cell 1992, 71: 973–985.

Petersen B.E. , Bowen W.C. , Patrene K. D. , Mars W. M. , Sullivain A. K. , Murase N. , Boggs S.S. , Greenberger J.S. , Goff J.P. “Bone Marrow as a Potential Source of Hepatic Oval Cells,” Science 1999, 284: 1168–1170.

Bjornson C.R. , Rietze R.L. , Reynolds B.A. , Magli M.C. , Vescovi A.L. “Turning Brain into Blood: A Hemapoietic Fate Adopted by Adult Neural Stem Cells in Vivo,” Science 1999, 283: 534–7.

Fuchs E. , Segre J.A. “Stem Cells: A New Lease on Life,” Cell 2000, 100: 143–155.

Paul John II The Gospel of Life, March 25, 1995. n. 53. The encyclical letter goes on further to explain that killing a human being is a particularly serious sin because that human life bears the image of God himself, the only Master of life. See n. 55.

Irving Diane N “NIH and Human Embryo Research Revisited: What is wrong With this Picture?” Linacre Quarterly 2000, 67: no. 2, 8–22.

McCormick Richard “Who or What is the ‘Pre-Embryo’?”, Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 1991, 1: 1: 3–15, and Ford, Norman, When Did I Begin?, Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 298.

Human neuralation, University of New South Wales, http://anatomy.med.unsw.edu.au/cbl/embryo/Notes/ncrest.htm.

The term pre-embryo introduced in the 1970 and 1980 has been dropped from embryology textbooks as inaccurate. The Human Embryo Research Commission and the NBAC have rejected it and describe the embryo as a living organism and a “developing form of human life”. The idea that the embryo becomes a human being only after day 14 or implantation is a scientific myth. The 1995 Ramsey Colloquium stated that the embryo does not articulate into any other kind of animal. When it is objected that it does not look like a human being “it must be pointed out that this is precisely what a human being looks like-and what each one of us looked like- at five or fifteen days of development.”

Serra Angelo , and Colombo Roberto “Identity and Status of the Human Embryo: the Contribution of Biology,” The Identity and Status of the Human Embryo, Proceedings of the Third Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, eds. Correa Vial , de Dios Juan , and Sgreccia Elio , Libreria Ediitrice Vaticana, 1997, p. 159.

Serra Angelo , and Colombo Roberto “Identity and Status of the Human Embryo: the Contribution of Biology,” The Identity and Status of the Human Embryo, Proceedings of the Third Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, eds. Correa Vial , de Dios Juan , and Sgreccia Elio , Libreria Ediitrice Vaticana, 1997, p. 151.

Braude P. , Bolton V. , and Moore S. “Human Gene Expression First Occurs Between the Four and Eight-Cell Stage of Preimplantation Development, Nature 1988, 332: 459–461.

See Serra A. o.c., p. 161 for extensive bibliography on findings in genetics.

“The zygote is genetically unique because half of its chromsomes come from the mother and half from the father. The zygote contains a new combination of chromosomes that is different from that in cells of either parents. This mechanism forms the basis of biparental inheritance and variation of the human species.” Moore Keith L. , Persaud T.V.N. , Before We are Born: Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects, W. B. Sunders, Philadelphia, 1998, p. 39.

Serra A. o.c., p. 153.

Moore K. L. o.c., p. 36.

Dianne Irving argues that it is on the basis of incorrect or distorted knowledge of embryology that contemporary authors have advanced the philosophical theory of delayed personhood. See Irving, Dianne, “The Woman and the Physician Facing Abortion: The Role of Correct Science in the Formation of Conscience and the Moral Decision Making Process,” paper delivered at the Scientific Conference The Guadalupan Appeal, Mexico City, Mexico, October 28, 1999. pp. 7, 8, 13.

Carrasco de Paula, an ethicist and theologian considers that in this matter, the Teaching of the Catholic Church has intentionally avoided the question of the moment of the infusion of the spiritual soul because it is not decisive for an ethical and moral judgment. Without declaring itself incompetent, the Catholic Church has suspended judgement on the subject for an indefinite period. See Carrasco de Paula, Ignacio, “The Respect due to the Human Embryo: A Historical and Doctrinal Perspective,” The Identity and Status of the Human Embryo, Proceedings of the Third Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, eds. Vial Correa, Juan de Dios and Sgreccia, Elio, Libreria Ediitrice Vaticana, 1997, p. 69.

Clifford Grobstein, a basic scientist, describes a number of changes in the human embryo between the phases he calls pre-implantation and implantation, all of which are functions of the human person, yet he mistakently concludes that “Conception (fertilization) is the beginning of a new generation in the genetic sense and not the beginning of human life in any other yet demonstrated scientific sense.” Grobstein Clifford “The Early Development of Human Embryos,” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1985, 236.

Serra A. o.c., p. 150.

Serra A. o.c., p. 153. Serra calls this first stage of fertilization syngamv while other authors today employ this term to refer to the fusion of the genetic material at the last stage.

Moore gives the following defintion of the zygote: “This cell, formed by the union of an oocyte and a sperm, is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo). The expression fertilized ovum refers to a secondary oocyte (ovum) that is impregnated by a sperm; when feritlization is complete, the oocyte becomes a zygote.” Moore K. L. , o.c., p. 2.

Moore gives the following defintion of the zygote: “This cell, formed by the union of an oocyte and a sperm, is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo). The expression fertilized ovum refers to a secondary oocyte (ovum) that is impregnated by a sperm; when feritlization is complete, the oocyte becomes a zygote.” Moore K. L. , o.c., p. 151, 155.

Aristotle Politics, Bk. VIII, Ch. 16, Penguin Classics, Baltimore, 1964.

Carrasco de Paula Ignacio “The Respect due to the Human Embryo: A Historical and Doctrinal Perspective,” The Identity and Status of the Human Embryo, Libreria editrice Vaticana, 1999, p. 59.

Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher, writes “If it is claimed that destroying an embryo does it harm because of the loss of its potential, why should we not say the same about the egg and sperm? The potential for new human life is there in both cases.” Singer Peter Rethinking Life and Death, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1994, pp. 98–99. By equating the potential of individual gametes with that of a zygote he ignores the aforementioned biological data that establishes a significant difference. The zygote functions as a new unique organism whereas each gamete only possess the genetic information of one parent and has a limited cellular functions; to begin, a gamete is not a totipotent cell.

Gerdhart J. “The Primacy of Cell Interaction in Development,” Trends in Genetics 1989, 5: 232–237.

See Serra A. o.c., pp. 156–157.

See Serra A. o.c., p. 157.

See Serra A. o.c., pp. 163–165.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, General Assembly of the United Nations, Dec., 10, 1948, Preamble, www.un.org/Overview/rights.html.

World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, 1962, revised in Tokyo, 1975, Italy, 1983, Hong Kong, 1989, I, 4, www.faseb.org/arvo/helsinki.htm.

The Declaration of Helsinki concludes with the same assertion: “In research on man, the interest of science and society should never take precedence over consideration related to the well-being of the subject”, Tokyo, 1975, Italy, 1983, Hong Kong, 1989, III, 4.

Congressional testimony of Senator Sam Brownback, April 26, 2000.

Congressional testimony of Senator Sam Brownback, April 26, 2000.

Haas John M “Human Dignity and Health Care,” Ethics and Medics 1997, 22: 2.

Joy Bill “Why the Future Does't Need Us,” Wired Magazine, April 2000.

See Caplan Arthur , “Setting Moral Rules for Reproduction,” Kent Law, August 2000.

See Caplan Arthur , “Setting Moral Rules for Reproduction,” Kent Law, August 2000.

See Sutton Angela “Italy Says No to Embryo Research, Embryo Adoption and Embryo Freezing,” Catholic Medical Quarterly, August 1999, p. 16. Bill N. 5655 would ban the production of embryos for research purposes, the cloning of human embryos and creation of chimeras or hybrids with gametes of other species.

Discussing the nutrition of a patient in a persistent vegetative state, Peter Singer argues that “technological advances in medicine have made it impossible to retain the principle of sanctity of life”. In fact his reason for defending the discontinuation of tube feeding to patients in persistent vegetative states is because they are an economic burden and, according to him, report no benefit to society. Singer Peter Rethinking Life and Death, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1994, p. 75.

Carrasco de Paula Ignacio o.c., 48–59.

From a Letter attributed to Barnabas, Funk 1, 53–57.

Tertullian De Anima 25, 4.

Special Article, “On Human Embryos and Medical Research: An appeal for Ethically Responsible Science and Public Policy,” Ethics & Medicine 1999, 15.3: 85–89.

Meyer John R. “Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Respect for Life,” Journal of Medical Ethics 2000, 26: 166–170.

Gussoni E , Soneoka Y , Strickland C.D. , Buzney E.A. , Khan M.K. , Flint A.F. , Kunkel L. M. , and Mulligan R.C. “Dystrophin Expression in the mdx Mouse Restored by Stem Cell Transplantation,” Nature 1999, 401: 390–394. In this experiment researchers transplanted hemapoietic (bone marrow) stem cells into a mouse model of Duchene's muscular dystrophy. The bone marrow stem cells produced muscle fibers that had normal expression of the dystrophin gene.

Espejo E. F. , Montoro R.J. , Armengol J.A. , and Lopez-Barneo J. “Cellular and Functional Recovery of Parkinsonian Rats after Intrastriatal Transplantation of Carotid Body Cell Aggregates.” Neuron 1998, 20: 197–206; Luquin, M.R., Montoro, R.J., Guillen, J, Saldise, L., Insausti, R., Del Rio, J. and Lopez-Barneo, J., “Recovery of Chronic Parkinsonian Monkeys by Autotransplants of Carotid Body Cell Aggregates into Putamen.” Neuron 1999, 22: 743-750.