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News, 30 September 2003

A UK researcher believes that couples will want to create embryos for use in destructive research when they see its benefits, LifeNews reports. The director of the Institute for Stem Cell Research at Edinburgh University, Professor Austin Smith, stated that it would be better to ask couples to donate embryos rather than using 'spare' ones which he claimed were often of 'poor quality'. Josephine Quintavalle of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, commented: "This shows how far we have moved towards viewing embryos as a product to be used in any way we like. To talk about creating the best embryos for stem cell research shows that we have lost all understanding of human dignity." [LifeNews.com, 28 September]


A rock band has vowed to go ahead with an onstage suicide stunt at a concert in the US next weekend. The leader of the Hell on Earth band claimed that the anonymous terminally ill man would kill himself at a concert in an undisclosed location in St Petersburg, Florida, to raise awareness about right-to-die issues. Yesterday, the city council approved an emergency ordinance making it illegal to conduct suicide for commercial or entertainment purposes. [Irish Examiner, 30 September]


Pope John Paul II has appointed 31 new Cardinals, many of whom have worked actively in defence of human life. New Cardinals include Archbishop George Pell, an outspoken pro-life bishop, Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, who has spoken against the UN's promotion of abortion and abortifacient contraception. [LifeSite, 30 September]


A doctor working at a private clinic in Hanover, Germany, has been accused of causing the deaths of 76 patients. The 53-year-old woman, who has been struck off the medical register, did not warn patients that the doses of drugs she gave them could lead to their deaths and the Hanover court has found no evidence that the patients were terminally ill or in great pain. She claims to have been trying to ease her patients' suffering but admitted that she may have mishandled their files. [Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, 30 September]


In a television programme to be broadcast for the second time on the UK's Channel 4, the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury discusses the moral and social issues surrounding genetic research. Playing God will be screened on Wednesday morning at 2:55am. [Channel 4, 30 September]

To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2012