Unborn Word Alliance: The Dignity of Persons in the Embryonic State

God's love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant still in his or her mother's womb and the child or young person, or the adult and the elderly person.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA. (Unborn Word Alliance) - On December 12, 2008 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published its instruction on certain bioethical questions, entitled Dignitas Personae. Throughout the document there are wonderful quotes about Christ's identification with humanity and unborn children. Here are three examples.

"In the face of this manipulation of the human being in his or her embryonic state, it needs to be repeated that God's love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant still in his or her mother's womb and the child or young person, or the adult and the elderly person. God does not distinguish between them because he sees an impression of his own image and likeness (Gen 1:26) in each one..."

"In the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God confirmed the dignity of the body and soul which constitute the human being. Christ did not disdain human bodiliness, but instead fully disclosed its meaning and value: 'In reality, it is only in the mystery of the incarnate Word that the mystery of man truly becomes clear'"

"At every stage of his existence, man, created in the image and likeness of God, reflects the face of his Only-begotten Son... This boundless and almost incomprehensible love of God for the human being reveals the degree to which the human person deserves to be loved in himself, independently of any other consideration - intelligence, beauty, health, youth, integrity, and so forth. In short, human life is always a good, for it 'is a manifestation of God in the world, a sign of his presence, a trace of his glory' (Evangelium vitae, 34)."

Dignitas Personae was published to give the Catholic Church's teaching concerning the new technologies that relate to the unborn in our very confused Brave New World. Click here to read the document.

Here are some of the topics discussed at some length in the text:

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
Freezing embryos
The freezing of oocytes
The reduction of embryos
Preimplantation diagnosis
New forms of interception and contragestation (abortive birth control)
Gene therapy
Human cloning
The therapeutic use of stem cells
Attempts at hybridization (the admixture of human and animal genetic elements)
The use of human "biological material" of illicit origin

To read a one page synopsis from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops you should go to their web site. This synopsis gives a brief overview of the topics listed below.

Ethical fertility treatments
Embryo adoption
Pre-implantation drugs and devices.
Gene therapy
Genetic enhancement/designer babies.
Human/animal hybrid embryos
Considers the challenge faced by researchers and families arising from the proposed use of unethically obtained cells and tissues.

In tomorrow's post we will have two beautiful quotes about pre-born Jesus from Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic Online that touch on this new document.

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UNBORN WORD ALLIANCE is an organization dedicated to honoring the Unborn Christ Child and promoting the Gospel of Life through literary and media projects, seminars and diverse spiritual endeavors.