EUROPEAN UNION ASKED FOR ETHICAL GUIDELINES ON EMBRYOS

BRUSSELS, June 14, 2002 (LSN.ca) – The governments of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria and Portugal issued a declaration on June 3 asking for the inclusion of ethical guidelines for European Union research on human embryos. According to the European Commission in Brussels, research involving the destruction of human embryos could be financed by the European Union, and therefore funding would come from taxpayers in countries which forbid this same research on their soil. The five signatory countries want guidelines “in particular regarding the protection of human dignity and human life in genomics and biotechnology research”.  Luxembourg issued a separate statement to the same effect. France and Spain have yet to declare their positions. Details on European Union developments are available from a European pro-life website: www.euro-fam.org