Donum Vitae
I. Respect for Human Embryos
Careful reflection on this teaching of the Magisterium and
on the evidence of reason, as mentioned above, enables us
to respond to the numerous moral problems posed by technical
interventions upon the human being in the first phases of
his life and upon the processes of his conception.
1. What Respect is Due to the
Human Embryo, Taking into Account His Nature and Identity
The human being must be respected - as a person - from the
very first instant of his existence. The implementation of
procedures of artificial fertilization has made possible various
interventions upon embryos and human foetuses. The aims pursued
are of various kinds: diagnostic and therapeutic, scientific
and commercial. From all of this, serious problems arise.
Can one speak of a right to experimentation upon human embryos
for the purpose of scientific research? What norms or laws
should be worked out with regard to this matter? The response
to these problems presupposes a detailed reflection on the
nature and specific identity - the word "status"
is used - of the human embryo itself .
At the Second Vatican Council, the Church for her part presented
once again to modern man her constant and certain doctrine
according to which: "Life once conceived, must be protected
with the utmost care; abortion and infanticide are abominable
crimes". (23) More recently,
the Charter of the Rights of the Family, published by the
Holy See, confirmed that "Human life must be absolutely
respected and protected from the moment of conception".(24)
This Congregation is aware of the current debates concerning
the beginning of human life, concerning the individuality
of the human being and concerning the identity of the human
person. The Congregation recalls the teachings found in the
Declaration on Procured Abortion: "From the time
that the ovum is fertilized, a new life is begun which is
neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather
the life of a new human being with his own growth. It would
never be made human if it were not human already. To this
perpetual evidence ... modern genetic science brings valuable
confirmation. It has demonstrated that, from the first instant,
the programme is fixed as to what this living being will be:
a man, this individual-man with his characteristic aspects
already well determined. Right from fertilization is begun
the adventure of a human life, and each of its great capacities
requires time ... to find its place and to be in a position
to act". (25) This teaching
remains valid and is further confirmed, if confirmation were
needed, by recent findings of human biological science which
recognize that in the zygote* resulting from fertilization
the biological identity of a new human individual is already
constituted. Certainly no experimental datum can be in itself
sufficient to bring us to the recognition of a spiritual soul;
nevertheless, the conclusions of science regarding the human
embryo provide a valuable indication for discerning by the
use of reason a personal presence at the moment of this first
appearance of a human life: how could a human individual not
be a human person? The Magisterium has not expressly committed
itself to an affirmation of a philosophical nature, but it
constantly reaffirms the moral condemnation of any kind of
procured abortion. This teaching has not been changed and
is unchangeable.(26)
Thus the fruit of human generation, from the first moment
of its existence, that is to say from the moment the zygote
has formed, demands the unconditional respect that is morally
due to the human being in his bodily and spiritual totality.
The human being is to be respected and treated as a person
from the moment of conception; and therefore from that same
moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which
in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent
human being to life. This doctrinal reminder provides the
fundamental criterion for the solution of the various problems
posed by the development of the biomedical sciences in this
field: since the embryo must be treated as a person, it must
also be defended in its integrity, tended and cared for, to
the extent possible, in the same way as any other human being
as far as medical assistance is concerned.
* The zygote is the cell produced when the nuclei of the
two gametes have fused.
2. Is Prenatal Diagnosis Morally
Licit?
If prenatal diagnosis respects the life and integrity
of the embryo and the human foetus and is directed towards
its safeguarding or healing as an individual, then the answer
is affirmative.
For prenatal diagnosis makes it possible to know the condition
of the embryo and of the foetus when still in the mother's
womb. It permits, or makes it possible to anticipate earlier
and more effectively, certain therapeutic, medical or surgical
procedures. Such diagnosis is permissible, with the consent
of the parents after they have been adequately informed, if
the methods employed safeguard the life and integrity of the
embryo and the mother, without subjecting them to disproportionate
risks.(27) But this diagnosis
is gravely opposed to the moral law when it is done with the
thought of possibly inducing an abortion depending upon the
results: a diagnosis which shows the existence of a malformation
or a hereditary illness must not be the equivalent of a death-sentence.
Thus a woman would be committing a gravely illicit act if
she were to request such a diagnosis with the deliberate intention
of having an abortion should the results conf rm the existence
of a malformation or abnormality. The spouse or relatives
or anyone else would similarly be acting in a manner contrary
to the moral law if they were to counsel or impose such a
diagnostic procedure on the expectant mother with the same
intention of possibly proceeding to an abortion. So too the
specialist would be guilty of illicit collaboration if, in
conducting the diagnosis and in communicating its results,
he were deliberately to contribute to establishing or favouring
a link between prenatal diagnosis and abortion. In conclusion,
any directive or programme of the civil and health authorities
or of scientific organizations which in any way were to favour
a link between prenatal diagnosis and abortion, or which were
to go as far as directly to induce expectant mothers to submit
to prenatal diagnosis planned for the purpose of eliminating
foetuses which are affected by malformations or which are
carriers of hereditary illness, is to be condemned as a violation
of the unborn child's right to life and as an abuse of the
prior rights and duties of the spouses,
3. Are Therapeutic Procedures
Carried out on the Human Embryo Licit?
As with all medical interventions on patients, one must
uphold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo
which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do
not involve disproportionate risks for it but are directed
towards its healing, the improvement of its condition of health,
or its individual survival. Whatever the type of medical,
surgical or other therapy, the free and informed consent of
the parents is required, according to the deontological rules
followed in the case of children. The application of this
moral principle may call for delicate and particular precautions
in the case of embryonic or foetal life. The legitimacy and
criteria of such procedures have been clearly stated by Pope
John Paul II: "A strictly therapeutic intervention whose
explicit objective is the healing of various maladies such
as those stemming from chromosomal defects will, in principle,
be considered desirable, provided it is directed to the true
promotion of the personal well-being of the individual without
doing harm to his integrity or worsening his conditions of
life. Such an intervention would indeed fall within the logic
of the Christian moral tradition" (28)
4. How Is One to Evaluate Morally
Research and Experimentation* on Human Embryos and Foetuses?
Medical research must refrain from operations on live embryos,
unless there is a moral certainty of not causing harm to the
life or integrity of the unborn child and the mother, and
on condition that the parents have givers their free and in
formed consent to the procedure. It follows that all research,
even when limited to the simple observation of the embryo,
would become illicit were it to involve risk to the embryo's
physical integrity or life by reason of the methods used or
the effects induced. As regards experimentation, and presupposing
the general distinction between experi;'nentation for purposes
which are not directly therapeutic and experimentation which
is clearly therapeutic for the subject himself, in the case
in point one must also distinguish between experimentation
carried out on embryos which are still alive and experimentation
carried out on embryos which are dead. If the embryos are
living, whether viable or not, they must be respected just
like any other human person; experimentation on embryos
which is not directly therapeutic is illicit.(29)
No objective, even though noble in itself, such as a foreseeable
advantage to science, to other human beings or to society,
can in any way justify experimentation on living human embryos
or foetuses, whether viable or not, either inside or outside
the mother's womb. The informed consent ordinarily required
for clinical experimentation on adults cannot be granted by
the parents, who may not freely dispose of the physical integrity
or life of the unborn child. Moreover, experimentation on
embryos and foetuses always involves risk, and indeed in most
cases it involves the certain expectation of harm to their
physical integrity or even their death. To use human embryos
or foetuses as the object or instrument of experimentation
constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings
having a right to the same respect that is due to the child
already born and to every human person.
The Charter of the Rights of the Family published
by the Holy See affirms: "Respect for the dignity of
the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or
exploitation of the human embryo".(30)
The practice of keeping alive human embryos in vivo
or in vitro for experimental or commercial purposes
is totally opposed to human dignity. In the case of experimentation
that is clearly therapeutic, namely, when it is a matter of
experimental forms of therapy used for the benefit of the
embryo itself in a final attempt to save its life, and in
the absence of other reliable forms of therapy, recourse to
drugs or procedures not yet fully tested can be licit (31)
The corpses of human embryos and foetuses, whether they
have been deliberately aborted or not, must be respected just
as the remains of other human beings. In particular, they
cannot be subjected to mutilation or to autopsies if their
death has not yet been verified and without the consent of
the parents or of the mother. Furthermore, the moral requirements
must be safeguarded that there be no complicity in deliberate
abortion and that the risk of scandal be avoided. Also, in
the case of dead foetuses, as for the corpses of adult persons,
all commercial trafficking must be considered illicit and
should be prohibited.
* Since the terms "research" and "experimentation"
are often used equivalently and ambiguously, it is deemed
necessary to specify the exact meaning given them in this
document.
1) By research is meant any inductive-deductive process
which aims at promoting the systematic observation of a given
phenomenon in the human field or at verifying a hypothesis
arising from previous observations.
2) By experimentation is meant any research in which
the human being (in the various stages of his existence: embryo,
foetus, child or adult) represents the object through which
or upon which one intends to verify the effect, at present
unknown or not sufficiently known, of a given treatment (e.g.
pharmacological, teratogenic, surgical, etc.).
5. How is One to Evaluate Morally
the Use for Research Purposes of Embryos Obtained by Fertilization
'In Vitro'?
Human embryos obtained in vitro are human beings and
subjects with rights: their dignity and right to life must
be respected from the first moment of their existence. It
is immoral to produce human embryos destined to be exploited
as disposable "biological material". In the
usual practice of in vitro fertilization, not all of
the embryos are transferred to the woman's body; some are
destroyed. Just as the Church condemns induced abortion, so
she also forbids acts against the life of these human beings.
It is a duty to condemn the particular gravity of the voluntary
destruction of human embryos obtained 'in vitro' for the sole
purpose of research, either by means of artificial insemination
of by means of "twin fission". By acting in
this way the researcher usurps the place of God; and, even
though he may be unaware of this, he sets himself up as the
master of the destiny of others inasmuch as he arbitrarily
chooses whom he will allow to live and whom he will send to
death and kills defenceless human beings.
Methods of observation or experimentation which damage or
impose grave and disproportionate risks upon embryos obtained
in vitro are morally illicit for the same reasons.
every human being is to be respected for himself, and cannot
be reduced in worth to a pure and simple instrument for the
advantage of others. It is therefore not in conformity
with the moral law deliberately to expose to death human embryos
obtained 'in vitro'. In consequence of the fact that they
have been produced in vitro, those embryos which art
not transferred into the body of the mother and are called
"spare" are exposed to an absurd fate, with no possibility
of their being offered safe means of survival which can be
licitly pursued.
6. What Judgment Should Be Made
on Other Procedures of Manipulating Embryos Connected with
the "Techniques of Human Reproduction"?
Techniques of fertilization in vitro can open the
way to other forms of biological and genetic manipulation
of human embryos, such as attempts or plans for fertilization
between human and animal gametes and the gestation of human
embryos in the uterus of animals, or the hypothesis or project
of constructing artificial uteruses for the human embryo.
These procedures are contrary to the human dignity proper
to the embryo, and at the same time they are contrary to the
right of every person to be conceived and to be born within
marriage and from marriage.(32)
Also, attempts or hypotheses for obtaining a human being without
any connection with sexuality through "twin fission",
cloning or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to
the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity
both of human procreation and of the conjugal union.
The freezing of embryos, even when carried out in
order to preserve the life of an embryo - cryopreservation
- constitutes an offence against the respect due to human
beings by exposing them to grave risks of death or harm
to their physical integrity and depriving them, at least temporarily,
of maternal shelter and gestation, thus placing them in a
situation in which further offences and manipulation are possible.
Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance
are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings
selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities.
These manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of
the human being and his or her integrity and identity.
Therefore in no way can they be justified on the grounds of
possible beneficial consequences for future humanity. (33)
Every person must be respected for himself: in this consists
the dignity and right of every human being from his or her
beginning.
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