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PR: UCC Decision not scientific
28.10.2008
UCC Consideration of lethal embryo research "has political, not scientific, agenda pushing it
Youth Defence has said that the governing body of University College Cork would be acting illegally and immorally if they allowed for lethal research on human embryos. Spokeswoman Carolyn Johnston added that it was a "regressive step to experiment on human life when the scientific community was turning away from embryo research and adult stem cells were producing fantastic results."
The governing body of University College Cork will today consider whether or not to allow the use of embryonic stem cells for research purposes on its campus. If it gives the go-ahead to the proposal, UCC would be the first academic institution in this country to do so. Researching on human embryos has been recommended by the college's research ethics board - but Youth Defence has pointed out that the ethics board seems to be driven by a political agenda. The Ethics Board is chaired by Dr. Deirdre Madden, who previously was a member of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction which sought to make Ireland one of the most liberal countries in the world in regard to the destruction of the human embryo, going so far as to seek the legalisation of cloning of embryos for experimentation. Dr. Madden, a legal expert and not a medical doctor, was also appointed by Mary Harney onto the Irish Medical Council.
Under her Chair, the UCC ethics board conducted a private consultation amongst academic staff querying as to whether they would support lethal research on human embryos. The University Research Ethics Board asked faculty members to choose between four options, with only one option rejecting the use of embryonic stem cells as unethical.
Now the university governing body will consider a proposal which would use imported embryonic stem-cell lines for experimentation.
Youth Defence said that the proposal seemed to have a political, rather than a scientific agenda, pushing it and queried Dr Madden's motives in driving the measure. They also pointed out that the proposal would not enjoy the support of the Irish people who opposed embryo research in a large majority of submissions to the Irish Council of Bioethics. "Submissions to the ICB showed that 70% of Irish people opposed research on human embryos, while 65 % said they would be unwilling to use medical treatments that were developed using embryonic stem cells," said Carolyn Johnston. "Neither ivory-tower academics nor political quangos should be allowed to override the wishes of the people."
"The proposal being considered by UCC is deplorable," she added. "It flies in the face of the newest scientific developments and remains doggedly fixed to an ideological, unscientific position from which the rest of the world has moved on."
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