Read the whole story in the Washington Post today, especially if you’re pro-life. Curious where Ramesh comes down, but it seems to me that Fr. Fitzgerald, quoted in the piece, makes sense—that these scientists, who were, according to the story, willing to stop using the aborted fetal cells in research, are, in fact, not contributing to an abortion by using them. That said, I think the latter portion of John Haas’s comment (below) is very important—I might add, especially considering this is Georgetown, which 1) is such a prominent Catholic institution 2) is a Catholic institution 3) shows so many signs that it is not Catholic, that the possibility he mentions is exactly how the world will see it.
John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Boston, said the ethical issues surrounding the use of fetal cells, embryonic stem cells and cloning are the most controversial facing the church. “I don’t see the moral difficulty in using these cell lines, because you’re not contributing in any way to the abortions, which took place decades ago,” Haas said. “However, there is the risk of leading people to think that [some Catholic institutions do not] consider abortion to be a great evil and are indifferent to it and willing to work with tissue that result from that kind of action.”