Editorial

The secular media - television, radio, and newspapers - have certainly been biased when covering President George W. Bush's veto of legislation to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. I have seen hardly any support for the president's action in the media.

Aren't public media supposed to cover all sides of the issues? What happened to equal treatment for different opinions on controversial issues?

Newspaper is wrong. For example, the news pages and the editorial section of Madison's Capital Times were full of articles and cartoons lambasting the president. An editorial in the July 21st issue carried the headline, "Bush and the stem cell lie." The piece says that "opponents of serious stem cell research, including the president, argue that allowing the use of discarded human embryos to extract stem cells would lead to the cloning of human embryos for research purposes."

The editorial goes on to say: "There is no evidence that this is a realistic prospect. . . . The reality is that the human embryos that Congress wants researchers to be able to use would otherwise be destroyed."

The Capital Times is wrong! To begin with, the newspaper does not admit that human embryos are human beings. Embryos are the beginning of each human life. We all started as a tiny embryo. It doesn't take a lot of scientific knowledge to know that fact. It's been taught in biology classes for years!

And it's not difficult to realize that if we allow the use of frozen embryos in research, it's just one more step to start replicating those embryos - and that's what we call cloning.

Not earmarked for destruction. As Fr. Tad Pacholczyk pointed out in his column in the July 20th issue of the Catholic Herald, the vast majority of the currently frozen embryos in fertility clinics are not earmarked for destruction. Only about 2.2 percent have been designated for disposal.

So the idea that we would be doing the "lesser of two evils" by using these discarded embryos for research is not true. Plus, as Father Tad pointed out, it would often be necessary to destroy 15 or 20 embryos before getting one stem cell line. More human lives would be destroyed.

Draw an ethical line in sand. We must draw an ethical line in the sand. This is it! Human life must be protected, no matter how small, as Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus said in response to the president's veto.

There are plenty of avenues for morally-acceptable stem cell research. Stem cells from umbilical cord blood and adult stem cells are readily and ethically available. And they are safer. Embryonic stem cells have been known to grow as dangerous tumors - and who knows what kind of virus or disease could be grown in a laboratory with these unknown cells.

We commend the president for defending this ethical line in the sand - despite the biased press coverage. Let us keep reminding our legislators to protect those tiny embryos.

Mary C. Uhler

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Catholics can witness to teaching

To the editor:

During my early days of priesthood in the Beloit-Janesville area, when I officiated at the sacrament of marriage, I was always moved by the card that came with the marriage license then. The card read: "It is the intent of chapters 245-8 (of the family code) to promote the stability and best interests of marriage and the family. Its stability is basic to morality and civilization and of vital interest to society and state."

The Catholic Church believes that the best interests and stability of family life will be weakened if "same sex marriages" are approved. In their Pastoral Letter to Wisconsin Catholics, the Wisconsin bishops stated that "on November 7, we in Wisconsin will vote on a proposed amendment to our State Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman."

The bishops, the Catholic Herald, and other Catholic resources offer guidance on this issue from a Catholic perspective. At this year's Chrism Mass, Bishop Morlino especially urged lay Catholics to vote and to participate responsibly in the political process [edited text of Chrism Mass homily].

All Catholics can witness to Catholic teaching on marriage by voting responsibly in November and by supporting this amendment as our bishops urge us to do.

Fr. Don Lange, Madison