pope says some science shatters human dignity

In a recent speech the pope is qouted saying that embryonic stem cell research, artificial insemination and the prospect of human cloning had "shattered" human dignity. The speech was the latest in a series in which the conservative Pope has told his listeners that scientific progress should not be accepted uncritically.

Practices like freezing embryos, suppression of embryos in multiple pregnancies, embryonic stem cell research, the prospect of human cloning and artificial insemination outside the body had "shattered the barriers meant to protect human dignity", he said.

"When human beings in the weakest and most defenseless state of their existence are selected, abandoned, killed or used as pure 'biological material,' how can one deny that they are being treated not as 'someone' but as 'something.