What does this mean in regard to stem cell research, cloning, and the manipulation of human embryos?
• It means that no manipulation of the human person (on any level) is acceptable unless that manipulation is for strictly therapeutic purposes that will serve the best interested of the person concerned. This excludes experiments with human embryos (who in God’s eyes are human persons, not just blobs of tissues), and it excludes the patenting of human genes for commercial ends (cloning). What has the Orthodox Church said about these issues? • In 1998, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America called for a stop of human cloning experiments. Renewed in 2001, the bishops’ condemned embryonic stem cell research and human cloning in general. Ova for Sale What does the Church say about selling one’s ova or sperm so that others, who may be infertile, can naturally have their own children? Many people feel this is a good thing, because it enables infertile couples to be able to have their own children. It seems just, fair, and politically correct. But what does the Orthodox Church say?
