LONDON, Ontario, January 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic schools in Ontario have a history of often supporting dubious causes and schools in the London diocese are now being asked to participate in a Read-a-Thon for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, which supports destructive embryonic stem cell research (ESCR).
In recent years, pro-life advocates have repeatedly had to renew their efforts to stop Catholic schools in Ontario from collecting funds for UNICEF, because of the UN organization’s support for abortion and other practices which violate Catholic moral principles. When Bill C-6, was passed it allowed Canadian research organizations to use ‘spare’ or leftover embryos from in vitro fertilization to be used as living human test subjects. The MS Society applauded the passage of the bill that pro-life activists called one of the worst since the Omnibus bill that made abortion legal.
The MS Society website says, “Stem cell research has great potential for people with multiple sclerosis, because of the real possibility for breakthroughs that may lead to a cure for multiple sclerosis through research on adult and embryonic stem cells.”
The belief that embryos can be used for therapies for diseases has often been discredited by leading researchers in the field. Though many diseases are being currently treated and even cured with the use of adult stem cells which are found in the patient’s own body, thus far every attempt to introduce foreign tissue derived from a dead embryo has not produced positive therapeutic results.
London area parents, Alex and Susan Schadenberg have written to the school board and to Bishop Fabbro to protest the inclusion of the MS Society in the fundraiser and to ask that the involvement of the Catholic schools be reconsidered. Mrs. Schadenberg writes, “As Catholics, we cannot support this organization.”
Write to Bishop Fabbro: [email protected]
Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada 175 Bloor Street East, Suite 700, North Tower Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R8 Telephone: (416) 922-6065