Pres. of Pont. Acad. for Life reacts to UK hybrids

CWNews:

The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life has said that the British decision to approve creation of "hybrid" human-animal embryos is "a monstrous act against human dignity."

Speaking to a Vatican Radio audience, Bishop Elio Sgreccia said the British government had "crumbled with confronted by requests from a group of immoral scientists." The government had backed away from plans to outlaw the research on hybrid embryos under heavy pressure from researchers.

In England, meanwhile, the director of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship charged that decision to approve hybrid-embryo research, made by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), was "shocking abuse of power." Andrea Minichiello Williams observed that Parliament had been studying the question, and preparing for a vote, when the HFEA "completely usurped the democratic process" by claiming the authority to approve the research.