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PR: UCC Academics Sent Info
05.12.2007
The pro-life group, Youth Defence, have sent all UCC academic staff in the colleges of Science and Medicine essential information relating to stem-cell research which they say can assist in understanding the push to approve lethal research on human embryos in Ireland.
Youth Defence said that the campaign to win academic approval for lethal research is thought to be politically motivated. The University Research Ethics Board is chaired by Dr Deirdre Madden, a former 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.
Youth Defence’s widely acclaimed report, entitled No Exceptions; Why Human Life Deserves Our Respect, brings together the most up-to-date evidence available to show that life begins at fertilisation and that research on human embryos is unethical and does not produce results. It further points out that adult stem cells, obtained from ethical sources, are providing cures.
In an accompanying letter, Eoghan de Faoite of Youth Defence stated, ‘Recent weeks have seen further developments which underline the benefits of using adult stem cells in research and show a shift away from the unethical practice of destroying human life.’
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