In an interview with Our Sunday Visitor, Fr. Tad Pacholczyk gives the federal embryonic stem cell research financial restrictions credit for the latest breakthrough using ethical stem cell research:

I think that the restrictions on funding have had an effect on how scientists approached this question, because federal funding is always seen as a form of approbation and blessing. Any time you get federal funding for something, there is a kind of “sanctioning” that occurs. And when the federal government refuses to fund something, it becomes a kind of dark spot on the entire field. That has been the practical effect, and I do suspect that because of that dark spot there has been a greater willingness to entertain alternative approaches.

He calls this breakthrough the Holy Grail of Reprogramming and “probably the most significant of the alternative approaches that were under consideration.”

Of course many are still going to those who advocate for embryo destructive research no matter what and Fr. Tad gives three reasons for this advocacy.

The first and second reasons concern the financial investments that have already been committed to this research and the fact that many of those who push for the destruction of human embryos don’t really see any ethical concerns there, as long as science is being advanced.

But the the third reason Fr. Tad gives is most interesting. He claims it also has to do with ESC research serving as a “hedge” for abortion:

If embryo killing becomes incorporated into the way we cure illnesses and maintain our health as a society, then abortion on demand will be more likely to curry favor in our culture as well. If those trying to protect embryos carry the day, pro-abortionists fear that the same ethical arguments will prevail against abortion.

This makes sense when you think about it, especially when it comes to politics. For many pro-lifers the issues of abortion and cloning/ESC research go hand in hand as they all refer to the direct killing of innocent human life, so the same can be said for those on the other side of the issues.

Whatever their reasons, like Fr. Tad, I too hope that

in the wake of this discovery, the siren call of harvesting human embryos will cease ringing in their ears and allow for a new era of ethical science in our society.

Read Fr. Tad’s other Making Sense of Bioethics columns