Politics
Tuesday March 14, 2006
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EU at Impasse on Cloning and Embryo Research Restrictions
by Hilary White
BRUSSELS, March 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com ) - The European Union is at an impasse over embryo research and cloning. The EU is pressed for time to come to a decision on a pan-European cloning policy with the approach of a deadline on funding policy. Governments everywhere are under pressure to allow the creation of in vitro embryos for research and clones, but thus far, Poland and Italy are holding out.
EU officials said that for the time being, the previous approach to funding for cloning and embryo experiments will continue on the present case by case basis until the parliamentary stalemate can be resolved.
We still think that adult stem cell research is preferable to embryonic stem cells, but we don't have a qualified majority in favour of this," Elisabeth Gehrer, Austria's minister for education, science and culture, told a news briefing.
The use of embryonic stem cells is banned in Austria, the country which currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Last year, Italy passed what is regarded as the most restrictive legislation on in vitro fertilisation and embryo research. Other predominantly Catholic European countries ban or restrict the use of human embryos.
The laws of most member states of the European Union, because of their complete acceptance of abortion, also accept the idea that pre-born human beings may be considered fodder for experimentation. At the grassroots level, however, some Europeans, especially the young, are starting to see through the logical fallacies.
Last year, LifeSiteNews.com reported on the growing alarm and irritation of feminists and abortion activists with the success of home-grown pro-life groups and the growth of popular pro-life sentiment.
Elisabeth Rosenthal, a pro-abortion writer for the International Herald Tribune complained that the pro-life movement was "restricting" abortion in formerly communist countries. "The movement has made powerful inroads in countries where a full array of women's health services were once taken for granted…including Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Lithuania and even the Netherlands."
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Pro-Aborts Complain Pro-Life and Pro-Family Attitudes on the Rise in Europe
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jul/05072908.html
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