The Vatican issued its most authoritative and sweeping document on bioethical issues in more than 20 years on Friday, taking into account recent developments in biomedical technology and reinforcing the church\u2019s opposition to in vitro fertilization, human cloning, genetic testing on embryos before implantation and embryonic stem cell research.<\/p>\n
The Vatican says these techniques violate the principles that every human life \u201d\u201d even an embryo \u201d\u201d is sacred, and that babies should be conceived only through intercourse by a married couple.<\/p>\n
The 32-page instruction, titled \u201cDignitas Personae,\u201d\u009d or \u201cThe Dignity of the Person,\u201d\u009d was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican\u2019s doctrinal office, and carries the approval and the authority of Pope Benedict XVI.<\/p>\n
Under discussion for six years, it is a moral response to bioethical questions raised in the 21 years since the congregation last issued instructions.<\/p>\n