Only embryos discarded by fertility clinics would be used to create stem cell cultures. Only private firms receiving no governmental funding would create the stem cell cultures. Turning an embryo into a stem cell culture essentially destroys the embryo's ability to develop further, killing its potential to become a human being . The Catholic Church views this as the destruction of a human life Permission from those creating the original embryo is required. They are not allowed to receive any financial reward for such donations.
Biologists have to be approved by four separate review groups and panels before receiving money.
The American proposals were derided as timid, overly cautious and burdened by bureaucracy by cloning activists. Indeed, the Clinton Administration's approach received support across the political spectrum. The New York Times editorial was titled Sensible Rules for Stem Cell Research . Indeed, Catholic opposition to research that could cure virtually everything from Alzheimer's Disease to kidney failure angered many Americans. One caller to the nationally broadcast Fox News program said she'd been writing letters to Roman Catholic officials since first hearing of the Church's opposition.