Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7—The Georgia Bulletin, August 2,1984
British Bishops Protest Guidelines
BY ROBERT NOWELL
LONDON (NC) - A
British government
committee said that
researchers should be
allowed to experiment
with human embryos up
to 14 days after
fertilization, a practice
which Britain’s bishops
have called “unaccept
able” unless the embryo’s
welfare is the first
consideration.
The recommendation
aims at laboratory
fertilizations of human
eggs, the so-called “in
vitro” procedure.
The committee also
recommended a licensing
agency to oversee the
freezing of embryos and
proposed outlawing
surrogate motherhood -
the practice by which one
woman carries another’s
baby to term, in some
cases for pay.
“Techniques of
observation or
experimentation or
selection or storage which
are not intended to benefit
that embryo itself are
fundamentally
unacceptable and ought to
be prohibited,” the
bishops of England, Wales
and Scotland said in a
statement released just
prior to publication of the
committee’s report.
Cardinal Basil Hume
said that no society could
claim or give others
absolute power over life
and death. “There is a law
of God the creator which
is higher than any
man-made legislation,” he
said.
“It is crucial that the
findings of this committee
should be subjected to the
most rigorous analysis and
debate by society as a
whole,” the cardinal said.
The government
committee, headed by
senior Oxford University
researcher Dame Mary
Warnock, said that while
“the embryo of the human
species should be afforded
some protection in law,”
some experimentation,
such as genetic research,
could be allowed.
The panel proposed
prohibiting experimentat
ion beyond two weeks, the
end of the period during
which a fertilized egg
normally implants itself in
the uterus and begins
developing organs and
other body parts.
Three of the panel’s 16
members objected, arguing
against experimentation,
and calling instead for
special legal protection for
embryos.
The dissenting group
included neurologist John
Marshall, a Catholic who
in the 1960s served on a
special papal commission
studying church teachings
on birth control.
The committee was
established two years ago
by the British government
to examine the social,
ethical and legal
implications of so-called
“test-tube baby” research.
It was the first such
attempt in Britain toward
establishing legal controls
on such research since the
July 25, 1978, birth in
England of Louise Joy
Brown, the world’s first
baby conceived through in
vitro fertilization.
In vitro fertilization is a
technique for joining a
human egg and sperm in a
laboratory. In cases where
the technique is used for
infertile couples, the
developing embryo is
transferred to the woman’s
womb after two weeks.
In its recommendations
on surrogate motherhood,
the committee called for
criminal penalties for
persons creatine or
operating agencies to make
such arrangements. The
panel said the law should
De drawn broadly enough
to include professionals
and others “who
knowingly assist in the
establishment of a
surrogate pregnancy.”
The committee
proposed making any
surrogacy contracts illegal
and unenforceable in the
courts.
However, the panel
recognized that it would
be impossible to prevent
do-it-yourself surrogate
arrangements between
private individuals.
The British government
has announced that it will
seek the views of the
public and of interested
organizations on the
committee recommendat
ions.
The government said it
also hopes to debate the
matter in Parliament in the
fall.
The public review,
parliamentary debate and
government study of the
proposals could take two
years before govemment-
- sponsored legislation is
passed. However,
legislation could be
introduced earlier by
members of Parliament.
O'Connor Baby Wins State Aid
BY MSGR. NOEL C. BURTENSHAW
Urged by Sheila Mallon, director of the Pro-Life Office
in the Catholic Center, the Georgia Bulletin publicized the
plight of seven-month-old Jennifer O’Connor in the June
21 issue.
“Thank God we did,” said a jubilant Sheila Mallon,
“because everything turned out right for the little one.”
Barbara and Jerry O’Connor were urged to let little
Jennifer die when she was born after serious
complications. Other complications set in which
threatened the baby’s life. Insurance for expensive care
was running out and while the state was ready to take care
of Jennifer in hospital no funds were forthcoming for
home care even though home care cost much less and
would be a saving to the taxpayer. “Home care,” said
Margaret Mary Cadigan
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Barbara, “is what Jennifer needed.”
It seemed an endless, hopeless case for the baby. Then
along came Sheila Mallon and the article. “We circulated
the article and a petition to the state. Parishes worked
hard for Jennifer. Over 6,000 names were collected to be
sent to the state. Senators Nunn and Mattingly
cooperated. It was ceaseless work, but it had this happy
ending.”
On Saturday last it was reported that the state would
grant a waiver in the case of Jennifer O’Connor. She will
receive the funds providing her with the necessary medical
care while remaining at home.
“It has saved her life,” says Sheila Mallon. “Even if we
only help one child it is all worth it.”
Many people of different faiths combined to help the
O’Connors, who have three other young children. Their
own Baptist church in Cobb County helped along with
congregations from many other denominations.
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Fertility
New Procedure Seen
As Hopeful Answer
NC News Service
Though no positively identified pregnancies had
resulted by mid-July form the low tubal ovum
transfer program at a Catholic hospital in Ohio,
researchers in the program said they remained
optimistic.
The low tubal ovum transfer method, which was
being tried for the first time in the United States at
St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, has
been viewed by some church officials as an
acceptable alternative to test-tube fertilization. The
hospital began the program last September.
“It is a new procedure, and it takes awhile” to
achieve success, said Donald Troike, an
embryologist on the medical team at St. Elizabeth’s.
Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati and
theologians at the Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral
Research and Education Center in St. Louis have
said the low tubal ovum transfer technique is in
accord with church teaching. _
The technique is designed to overcome the most
common cause of infertility in women - blocked
fallopian tubes, which prevent sperm from reaching
the ovum.
With LTOT, tubal blockages are circumvented by
surgically removing eggs from an infertile woman
and transferring the eggs to the lower or
mid-portion of one of her undamaged fallopian
tubes, where fertilization later can occur naturally.
With the in vitro method, the woman’s extracted
eggs are fertilized with the husband’s sperm in an
artificial growth medium.
“We feel we’re getting fertilization, but we may
not be getting implantation,” Dr. David S.
McLaughlin, head of the St. Elizabeth’s LTOT
medical team, told NC News.
He said the fertilized eggs must become
implanted in the lining of the uterus for pregnancy
to occur. This, he said, is done surgically in the in
vitro method, but not in LTOT, where it must occur
naturally.
Duane Hunter
DISTRICT 5 COMMISSIONER
DeKALB COUNTY
BUSINESSMAN.
• Experienced sales, consulting, management
executive.
• Now marketing manager, Aerovox Georgia
Incorporated.
PUBLIC SERVANT.
• Formerly Southeast Regional Advocate, US
Small Business Administration.
• Currently a member of the SBA Advisory
Council.
COMMUNITY LEADER.
• Past director. Redan Hgh School Touchdown
Club.
• Hidden Hills representative. Friends of Redan
and the DeKalb County Civic Coalition.
FAMILY MAN.
• Married and father of three sons.
• Member Corpus Christi Catholic Church.
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