"Having written a 400-page doctoral dissertation precisely on this issue over 13 years ago which analyzed in excruciating detail the "delayed personhood" positions of over 23 different bioethics arguments still used today [[for summary of pros and cons, see Irving, "Scientific and philosophical expertise: An evaluation of the arguments on 'personhood'", at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_04person1.html]], and having been immediately engaged in the various "disputes" since then, it is my considered opinion at this point, at least, that these current "delayed personhood" debates are nothing more than a huge, very sophisticated, and very successful RUSE -- a rhetorical attempt to confuse good people in order to do things that most people would instinctively know to be fundamentally and unequivocally unethical."
Perhaps it is time for Catholics and others of good faith to stand back for a moment, take a deep breath, and just consider for a moment the question as to whether or not the horrific "confusion" over whether or not the earliest human embryos - regardless if they are sexually or asexually reproduced - are human "persons" is really so relevant to these abortion, cloning, and stem cell debates after all. Is the hotly debated "distinction" between a "human being" and a "human person" simply just another one of the many false distinctions that have permeated these bioethics debates on abortion, cloning and stem cell research - like the false distinction between "therapeutic" and "reproductive" cloning?
Having written a 400-page doctoral dissertation precisely on this issue over 13 years ago which analyzed in excruciating detail the "delayed personhood" positions of over 23 different bioethics arguments still used today, and having been immediately engaged in the various "disputes" since then, it is my considered opinion at this point, at least, that these current "delayed personhood" debates are nothing more than a huge, very sophisticated, and very successful RUSE -- a rhetorical attempt to confuse good people in order to do things that most people would instinctively know to be fundamentally and unequivocally unethical.
Often, unfortunately, this perpetuation of what is nothing more than programmed "confusion" emanates even from some Church sources -- thus increasing the confusion and scandal further.
Regardless of one's religion or "position" on these issues, perhaps it is time also for those who are sincerely interested or concerned to take just a few minutes to read for themselves direct quotations from decades of formal Church teachings on "delayed personhood" -- irrespective of whatever particular "philosophical" bent one's particular "theology" happens to incorporate at any one time. At least it should make clear once and for all what the formal teachings of the Church on this "personhood" issue really are. It might be surprising - even refreshing - what one discovers!
Below I have simply set out such a list -- drawn from one of my earlier articles on cloning and stem cell research. [Irving, "Playing God by manipulating man: Facts and frauds of human cloning", at: http://www.mocatholic.org/uploads/IrvingCloning3.pdf; and at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_22manipulatingman1.html. I have taken the prerogative of "bolding" just a few key words here and there throughout these direct quotations in order to facilitate even a brisk scrolling through the various passages. What is crystal clear from these formal teachings might actually shock some -- especially because most Catholics today are essentially "unschooled" in the formal teachings of the Church (let's be honest, when is the last time they read any encyclical -- if ever?).
Thus below please find, free of personal, organizational, or political bias, the exact words from the various teachings of the Church on "personhood" -- whether the issue concerns sexually or asexually reproduced human beings. What one discovers is that the issue of whether "personhood" can be empirically, philosophically or theologically proven and/or documented is IRRELEVANT. What is relevant -- morally speaking -- is whether or not a human BEING is known to already exist. If this is empirically knowable -- which it is -- then it automatically follows that there is also a "person" present immediately as well. This is because of the philosophical and theological "anthropology" that the Church has traditionally used for centuries on which to base her formal moral teachings -- informal personal theological speculations aside.
Again, although "personhood" can be reliably reasoned back to as beginning immediately when the human being begins to exist (using the accurate empirical facts of human embryology and human genetics), the issue is morally irrelevant for purposes of these debates -- and has been turned into nothing more than a rhetorical ruse to confuse people. Rather, these moral teachings are grounded in the inviolable dignity and equality of every single human BEING from the first moment of their existence. And this is clearly, unambiguously stated in the following direct quotations -- over and over again.
** [CDF, Instruction on respect for human life in its origin and on the dignity of procreation - Donum vitae (Feb. 1987) http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html
" ... no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."
** [CDF, Declaration on Procured Abortion, II.6 (Nov. 1974), http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19741118_declaration-abortion_en.html
... The tradition of the Church has always held that human life must be protected and favored from the beginning, just as at the various stages of its development. ... Most recently, the Second Vatican Council, presided over by Paul VI, has most severely condemned abortion: 'Life must be safeguarded with extreme care from conception; abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.' The same Paul VI, speaking on this subject on many occasions, has not been afraid to declare that this teaching of the Church 'has not changed and is unchangeable.'
** [CDF, Declaration on Procured Abortion, II.7 (Nov. 1974), http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19741118_declaration-abortion_en.htm
l... In the course of history, the Fathers of the Church, her Pastors and her Doctors have taught the same doctrine -- the various opinions on the infusion of the spiritual soul did not introduce any doubt about the illicitness of abortion.
** [Encyclical Letter: Humane vitae (July 1968), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html
... Human life is sacred,' Pope John XXIII recalled; 'from its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God.'
** Encyclical Letter: Evangelium vitae, 60 (Mar. 1995), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html
... Some people try to justify abortion by claiming that the result of conception, at least up to a certain number of days, cannot yet be considered a personal human life. But in fact, "from the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already. This has always been clear, and ... modern genetic science offers clear confirmation. It has demonstrated that from the first instant there is established the program of ...: a person, this individual person with his characteristic aspects already well determined. Right from fertilization the adventure of a human life begins, and each of its capacities requires time -- a rather lengthy time -- to find its place and to be in a position to act." Even if the presence of a spiritual soul cannot be ascertained by empirical data, the results themselves of scientific research on the human embryo provide "a valuable indication for discerning by the use of reason a personal presence at the moment of the first appearance of a human life: how could a human individual not be a human person? Furthermore, what is at stake is so important that, from the standpoint of moral obligation, the mere probability that a human person is involved would suffice to justify an absolutely clear prohibition of any intervention aimed at killing a human embryo. Precisely for this reason, over and above all scientific debates and those philosophical affirmations to which the Magisterium has not expressly committed itself, the Church has always taught and continues to teach that the result of human procreation, from the first moment of its existence, must be guaranteed that unconditional respect which is morally due to the human being in his or her totality and unity as body and spirit: "The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life.
** [Encyclical Letter: Evangelium vitae, 61 (Mar. 1995), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html
... Human life is sacred and inviolable at every moment of existence, including the initial phase which precedes birth. All human beings ... belong to God. ... Throughout Christianity's two thousand year history, this same doctrine has been constantly taught by the Fathers of the Church and by her Pastors and Doctors. Even scientific and philosophical discussions about the precise moment of the infusion of the spiritual soul have never given rise to any hesitation about the moral condemnation of abortion.
** [Encyclical Letter: Evangelium vitae, 63 (Mar. 1995), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html
... This evaluation of the morality of abortion is to be applied also to the recent forms of intervention on human embryos which, although carried out for purposes legitimate in themselves, inevitably involve the killing of those embryos. This is the case with experimentation on embryos, which is becoming increasingly widespread in the field of biomedical research and is legally permitted in some countries. Although "one must uphold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but rather are directed to its healing, the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival," it must nonetheless be stated that the use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person. ... This moral condemnation also regards procedures that exploit living human embryos and fetuses -- sometimes specifically "produced" for this purpose by in vitro fertilization -- either to be used as biological material" or as providers of organs or tissue for transplants in the treatment of certain diseases. The killing of innocent human creatures, even if carried out to help others, constitutes an absolutely unacceptable act.
** [Pontifical Academy for Life, Reflections on Cloning (Sept. 1997), at
... Judgment - as an act of the human mind - on the personal nature of the human embryo springs necessarily from the evidence of the biological datum which implies the recognition of the presence of a human being with an intrinsic active capacity for development, and not a mere possibility of life. ... The ethical exigency of respect and care for the life and integrity of the embryo, demanded by the presence of a human being is motivated by a unitary conception of man ("Corpore et anima unus"), whose personal dignity must be recognized from the beginning of his physical existence. ... The theological perspective, beginning with the light which revelation sheds on the meaning of a human life and on the dignity of the person, supports and sustains human reason in regard to these conclusions, without in any way diminishing the validity of contributions based on rational evidence. Therefore the duty of respecting the human embryo as a human person derives from the reality of the matter and from the force of rational argumentation, and not exclusively from a position of faith. ... From the juridical point of view, the core of the debate on the protection of the human embryo does not involve identifying earlier or later indices of "humanity" which appear after insemination, but consists rather in the recognition of fundamental human rights by virtue of the presence of a human being. Above all, the right to life and to physical integrity from the first moment of existence, in keeping with the principle of equality, must be respected.
** [CDF, Declaration on Procured Abortion, III.12 (Nov. 1974), http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19741118_declaration-abortion_en.html
... In reality, respect for human life is called for from the time that the process of generation begins. From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already." [III.13]: To this perpetual evidence -- perfectly independent of the discussions on the moment of animation -- modern genetic science brings valuable confirmation. It has demonstrated that, from the first instant, there is established the program of what this living being will be: a man, this individual man with his characteristic aspects already well determined. Right from fertilization is begun the adventure of a human life ... .
** [Pontifical Academy for Life, Reflections on Cloning (Sept. 1997), http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdlife/documents/rc_pa_acdlife_doc_30091997_clon_en.html
... From a biological standpoint, the formation and the development of the human embryo appears as a continuous, coordinated and gradual process from the time of fertilization, at which time a new human organism is constituted, endowed with the intrinsic capacity to develop by himself into a human adult. The most recent contributions of the biomedical sciences offer further valuable empirical evidence for substantiating the individuality and developmental continuity of the embryo. To speak of a pre-embryo thus is an incorrect interpretation of the biological data.
** [-- Vatican's Mission to the United Nations, Speech by Archbishop Migliore to the 58th U.N. General Assembly on the International Convention Against Human Cloning (Oct. 27, 2003), http://www.vatican.va/news_services/bulletin/news/13907.php?index=13907&lang=en
** [Encyclical Letter: Evangelium vitae, 58 (Mar. 1995), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html... It must be clear that the position my delegation takes is not, in the first instance, a religious one. It is a position informed by the process of reason that is in turn informed by scientific knowledge.
... [W]e need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. ... Especially in the case of abortion there is a widespread use of ambiguous terminology, such as 'interruption of pregnancy,' which tends to hide abortion's true nature and to attenuate its seriousness in public opinion. Perhaps this linguistic phenomenon is itself a symptom of an uneasiness of conscience. But no word has the power to change the reality of things: procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth.
** [Encyclical Letter: Evangelium vitae, 100 (Mar. 1995), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html
... Let us therefore discover anew the humility and the courage to pray and fast so that power from on high will break down the walls of lies and deceit: the walls which conceal from the sight of so many of our brothers and sisters the evil of practices and laws which are hostile to life. May this same power turn their hearts to resolutions and goals inspired by the civilization of life and love.
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