Following is a reprint of the letter sent by our president to the Catholic Newspaper in Malaysia(HERALD):
I am enclosing the text of my letter addressed to the Editor of the Malaysian Herald Catholic Weekly News letter dated 19Sept.2010 issuefor your perusal and ? comments. This was written is in response to the letter written by a concerned Parishioner who was disturbed by the news that Japanese Medical scientists disposed of human embryos at the end of stem cell manoeuvers.
"Dear Editor,
I refer to Bobby George's article on 'Defenceless embryos cannot cry: Time to act'. We wish to assure him that we Catholic doctors also firmly believe that life begins at conception and is inviolable and must be respected.'Thou shall not kill' is one of our main Commandments and 'I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly'
(John 10:10) are repeatedly mentioned in our Holy Father John Paul II's 'The Gospel of Life' reminding us of the sacredness of humanlife.
The Japan Catholic Medical Association (JCMA) together with the Central Bishops' Association of Japan had in July 2008 already sent their protests against their Government's draft proposal to create human embryos for 'research purposes' in Japan but their protests were ignored. This is the second time that the Ministry of Education and Science have again called for the final public opinion regarding their proposal to create human embryos for 'research purposes' as it is aware of the ethical considerations involved. Let us pray that the Japanese Government will listen to their own people and act wisely.
Recently the Catholic Doctors' Association of Taiwan R.O.C. was involved in opposing their Government's views on surrogate mothers.An Artificial Act on Reproduction passed in 2007 had regarded a woman's body and the foetus as tools which are dehumanising to the mother-child relationship. The Taiwanese doctors pointed out that the Catholic Church in Taiwan instead supported the natural way of promoting impregnation called Natural Procreative Technology or NAPRO. By using treatments that work together with the women's menstrual and fertility cycles at the Cardinal Tien Hospital, they have helped many couples to give birth succesfully. Many of these couples have been unsuccesful previously when they used artificial reproductive technology. Both NAPRO and BOM (Billings Ovulation Method) are accepted by the Catholic Church as natural family planning methods and have helped many sub-fertile women to conceive.
In conclusion we doctors including the Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia (CDAM) are doing what we can to defend our Church's teachings in our daily lives at home and at work. We look froward to working closely with other health care workers in this respect as we are part of the team.
Dr. Freddie Loh,
President,
Asian Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (AFCMA)"
I am enclosing the text of my letter addressed to the Editor of the Malaysian Herald Catholic Weekly News letter dated 19Sept.2010 issuefor your perusal and ? comments. This was written is in response to the letter written by a concerned Parishioner who was disturbed by the news that Japanese Medical scientists disposed of human embryos at the end of stem cell manoeuvers.
"Dear Editor,
I refer to Bobby George's article on 'Defenceless embryos cannot cry: Time to act'. We wish to assure him that we Catholic doctors also firmly believe that life begins at conception and is inviolable and must be respected.'Thou shall not kill' is one of our main Commandments and 'I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly'
(John 10:10) are repeatedly mentioned in our Holy Father John Paul II's 'The Gospel of Life' reminding us of the sacredness of humanlife.
The Japan Catholic Medical Association (JCMA) together with the Central Bishops' Association of Japan had in July 2008 already sent their protests against their Government's draft proposal to create human embryos for 'research purposes' in Japan but their protests were ignored. This is the second time that the Ministry of Education and Science have again called for the final public opinion regarding their proposal to create human embryos for 'research purposes' as it is aware of the ethical considerations involved. Let us pray that the Japanese Government will listen to their own people and act wisely.
Recently the Catholic Doctors' Association of Taiwan R.O.C. was involved in opposing their Government's views on surrogate mothers.An Artificial Act on Reproduction passed in 2007 had regarded a woman's body and the foetus as tools which are dehumanising to the mother-child relationship. The Taiwanese doctors pointed out that the Catholic Church in Taiwan instead supported the natural way of promoting impregnation called Natural Procreative Technology or NAPRO. By using treatments that work together with the women's menstrual and fertility cycles at the Cardinal Tien Hospital, they have helped many couples to give birth succesfully. Many of these couples have been unsuccesful previously when they used artificial reproductive technology. Both NAPRO and BOM (Billings Ovulation Method) are accepted by the Catholic Church as natural family planning methods and have helped many sub-fertile women to conceive.
In conclusion we doctors including the Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia (CDAM) are doing what we can to defend our Church's teachings in our daily lives at home and at work. We look froward to working closely with other health care workers in this respect as we are part of the team.
Dr. Freddie Loh,
President,
Asian Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (AFCMA)"
posted by cdam at
11:59 AM
