Publicity surrounding the meeting between United States President George Bush and Pope John Paul II regarding the ethics of stem cell research has obscured the wide range of other religious views on the issue, says Dr. Gerald R. Winslow, a Seventh-day Adventist ethicist.

At the July 23 meeting, Pope John Paul rejected all forms of stem cell research that required the destruction of embryos.  But Winslow, a professor of Biomedical and Clinical Ethics at Loma Linda University in southern California, says this does not represent a unified religious perspective.

“There are many thoughtful religious leaders who, realizing the complexity of the issues involved, have taken differing views,” he says.

Winslow points to the range of positions already expressed by Protestants, Jewish organizations, and even by different groups within the Roman Catholic Church.

The stem cell debate is one that resists “sound-bite solutions,” says Winslow, who, along with other ethicists and religious leaders, signed an open letter to President Bush last week protesting the association of religion and ethics with only one viewpoint.

Stem cells are the building blocks of all human tissue; they are described as “master cells,” capable of being transformed into almost any type of cell in the body.  Scientists believe stem cells may, in the future, provide breakthrough treatments for a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and even paralysis.  Although stem cells can be harvested from adults, scientists say stem cells from embryos show more promise in the development of treatments for disease.

Governments around the world have been caught up in heated political and moral debate about proper regulation of stem cell research. The Japanese cabinet last week approved a compromise, issuing guidelines that would allow embryonic stem cells to be harvested, but only from embryos that would otherwise be destroyed. On the other hand, Britain has legalized “therapeutic cloning,” which allows early-stage, cloned embryos to be harvested for stem cells. 

The United States House of Representatives last week voted to ban human cloning for any purpose, including stem cell research.

Public opinion is split: while some see hope for treatment of disease and relief of suffering, others see the vast potential for exploitation of embryos that will ultimately devalue human life. 

Although the Adventist Church has made no official statement regarding the current stem cell debate, its 1999 statement on birth control and its 1992 guidelines on abortion show clearly that Adventists believe human life, at all stages of development, should be treated with respect, says Winslow. 

“Prenatal life is a magnificent gift of God,” says the church’s guidelines on abortion. “God’s ideal for human beings affirms the sanctity of human life, in God’s image, and requires respect for prenatal life.”

Winslow notes, however, that in discussing birth control and abortion, the church has chosen not to define the precise moment human life begins—a moment science finds difficult to pinpoint.

“What we have said is that we take every stage of prenatal life very seriously.  It should be protected,” explains Winslow. “But the prenatal life we’re protecting exists once an ‘established pregnancy’ can be ascertained.” 

As science opens new possibilities, stem cell research presents a moral and ethical dilemma that cannot be avoided. It’s a debate that defies simplistic answers, cautions Winslow, who says the issue is forcing Christians to reexamine their convictions about prenatal life.

(For further reference see the Adventist Church’s “Guidelines on Abortion,” adopted in 1992; “Considerations on Assisted Human Reproduction” accepted in 1994 by the General Conference’s Administrative Committee; and Birth Control: A Seventh-day Adventist Statement of Consensus,” voted at the 1999 Annual Council in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.  These statements can be viewed at: www.adventist.org.)