Mark your calendar:    "The Science and Ethics of Stem Cells and Cloning"

“Good science should be the point of departure for doing ethical analysis,” Pacholczyk maintains. “I always do the first half of my talks just on the science. The second half I focus on the moral concerns.”

This statement by the internationally known scientist and expert in stem cell research convinced Feminists for Life of New York that “Dr. Tad” was the perfect choice to address stem cells here.

Dr. Pacholcyzk holds a doctorate in neuroscience from Yale University, as well as undergraduate degrees in philosophy, biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, and chemistry.  A Catholic priest who has completed advanced studies in theology and bioethics in Rome, his post-doctoral work was conducted through Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he made use of DNA sequencing to study the structure of membrane sodium pumps.  The solid science stands him in good stead to navigate the difficult subject of cloning and embryonic stem cell research, now embroiled in political and ethical debates.

Feminists for Life, a pro-woman, pro-life organization, contends that there are missing elements in current debates on stem cell research.  Our concern about the effects on the living human embryos that must be destroyed to conduct research and cloning, as well as the ways in which women will be targeted as ‘egg factories’ in order to obtain viable eggs, inspire the program.

Dr. Pacholcyzk concurs, “An embryo is a human being, a being that is human, that is not some other kind of animal.  Whether it’s a person yet at the moment of conception, whether it’s been ensouled — those are very interesting intellectual discussions but they’re not ultimately relevant. In the moral analysis, what’s critical is that once you’re a being who is human, a being with the potential to become an adult, then you are a bearer of human rights.”

Ms. Kathy Gallagher, a Legislative Advocate in Albany, and a FFLNY member, will also discuss plans that the New York State legislature has to invest state monies in ESCR.

What:  “The Science and Ethics of Stem Cells and Cloning” will be presented by Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk,

When:   7:30 PM on Monday, April 25, 2005

Where: Monroe Community College, R. Thomas Flynn Campus Center

Questions?  Call Mary Dwelley 482-0048 and Meg Smerbeck 381-6575

For more information on the FFLNY position on ESCR including concerns involving science, ethics, finances, and women’s health, please visit the FFLNY website: www.fflny.org

Updated on RARTL April 14, 2005