When Stem Cell Research Gets Personal (Part 2)

Interview With Bioethicist on Umbilical Cord Cell Banking

By Kathleen Naab

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, JUNE 9, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The debate about stem cell research is under way in legislatures around the world, but there is an element to the research that is debated within the home.

This intimate level of the discussion happens every time a pregnant couple faces the possibility of storing their newborn's umbilical cord blood (or rather, the stem cells it contains) in hopes of future treatment or cures, should they be necessary.

ZENIT spoke with Father Alfred Cioffi about stem cell research and the particular promise offered by these powerful cells found in umbilical cord blood.

Father Cioffi, a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami, is a research ethicist for the National Catholic Bioethics Center. He has done extensive study and work in bioethics and research, focusing his first doctoral thesis from Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University on "The Fetus as Medical Patient: Moral Dilemmas in Prenatal Diagnosis." He earned a second doctorate in genetics from Purdue University, with a thesis on "The VWG Hypothesis: Predicting Distinct Chromatin Structures from the DNA Sequence."

Part 1 of this interview, detailing the basics of stem cell research, was published Monday.

ZENIT: Going to a more particular question, what is the difference between adult stem cells and stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood?

Father Cioffi: Regarding umbilical cord stem cells, bioethically, they represent a special category. It turns out that the blood inside the umbilical cord also contains stem cells. Since the umbilical cord comes from the human embryo (or fetus), then these are embryonic stem cells. The umbilical cord is normally discarded once the baby is born, but these embryonic stem cells can be extracted from that cord blood without having to do the least damage to the baby. In a sense, this is the best of both worlds because, on the one hand, umbilical cord stem cells have the plasticity and high-quality healing capacity of embryonic stem cells and, on the other, the baby certainly doesn’t have to be killed in order to obtain them.

ZENIT: So then let's turn to another side of this issue: parents considering storing their newborn's stem cells. Some -- perhaps most -- pregnancy books, obstetricians and pediatricians are cautious about recommending umbilical cord banking and even somewhat discouraging. Would you say this is a justified attitude? Does it reflect a lack of information? Or perhaps the effects of an anti-life ideology?

Father Cioffi: The downside of umbilical cord stem cells is mostly financial. It is relatively expensive to extract them -- I've heard for the United States, perhaps about $1,000 -- and then there's a monthly fee -- of about $100 -- to store them. How long would they be stored? Essentially, for life, or until the newborn has an injury or disease sometime in his lifetime. And, hopefully, that injury or disease could be healed with the saved umbilical cord stem cells.

ZENIT: So what would you recommend for pregnant couples? Is umbilical cord banking worth the price tag?

Father Cioffi: You have to consider several factors: How much is it likely to cost; up front and in the long run? What cures could be expected realistically, and in what time frame? Since cord blood stem cell research is an industry that is just now beginning, perhaps for now the couples who would benefit the most from storing cord blood stem cells are the ones who have another child who was either born with some illness or acquired some illness or injury that could be cured with the stem cells of the sibling, since coming from the same parents the tissue match would likely be a good one.

In the long run, umbilical cord stem cells offer tremendous potential, so my bottom-line recommendation for couples considering their storage when giving birth is this: If the couple can afford it (perhaps even with some help from family and friends -- “baby-shower donations accepted!”), then they should do it. Why? Because, in addition to obvious advantages to their baby, siblings and close relatives, this would also further this fledging industry that is indeed very pro-life, and needs all the help it can get in getting started.

If the couple cannot afford it, they could consider putting some “friendly pressure” on their health insurance company to cover, at least, some of the cost. I think that it is important to get health insurance companies to understand that their investment in umbilical cord blood stem cell storage is to their financial advantage in the long run. Why? Because, as more and more cures come about in this field, on average, more and more of their clients would benefit from them -- say, for instance, an injured teenager whose cord cells were saved, and who will now heal better and faster because of them, thus reducing his hospital stay and treatment sessions, thus reducing health care insurance costs.

New York Bishops on Same-Sex "Marriage"

"We Stand Unified in Our Strong Opposition"

NEW YORK, JUNE 9, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is the statement the bishops of New York released June 1 on the proposed law that would legalize same-sex "marriage" in the state of New York.

* * *

We face today the prospect of a law in New York which would radically change the timeless institution of marriage. As pastors of citizens from every corner of our great state, we stand unified in our strong opposition to such a drastic measure.

Throughout history, different cultures have had different customs regarding marriage. But the one constant has been the conviction that marriage is the union of a man and a woman in an enduring bond, ordered for the procreation and stable rearing of children. Regrettably, the state Assembly has voted to redefine what nature and our common heritage long ago defined for us. We fervently pray that members of the state Senate will stand firm in opposition to this ill-advised legislation, and we call on Catholics and all New Yorkers to contact their Senators to make their voices heard.

Our opposition to this bill is based not only on Catholic teaching regarding human sexuality and the Sacrament of Marriage. Just as importantly, it is based on reason, sound public policy, and plain common sense, as we stated in our 2008 pastoral statement on same-sex “marriage.” To briefly reiterate, the state has a compelling legal interest in promoting marriage between men and women in order to create stable families and provide for the safety, health and well being of children. The state has no such compelling legal interest in recognizing a relationship between two people of the same sex.

If there are injustices against those in relationships other than marriage, those injustices can certainly be reformed and corrected in a way other than by drastically redefining marriage.

We close with a final point from our 2008 statement:

"(W)e want to make absolutely clear that our firm beliefs about marriage ... must not be misconstrued to be in any way a condemnation of homosexual people or an attack on their human dignity. Our Church teaches, and we affirm, that we must treat our homosexual sisters and brothers with dignity and love, as we would all God’s children. Indeed the Catechism of the Catholic Church warns that any form of prejudice or hatred – 'every sign of unjust discrimination' -- against homosexual people should be avoided" (CCC 2358).

Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York

Howard J. Hubbard
Bishop of Albany

Nicholas DiMarzio
Bishop of Brooklyn

Edward U. Kmiec
Bishop of Buffalo

Rev. Terry R. LaValley
Diocesan Administrator of Ogdensburg

Matthew H. Clark
Bishop of Rochester

William F. Murphy
Bishop of Rockville Centre

Robert J. Cunningham
Bishop of Syracuse

Divine Mercy in My Soul

When Stem Cell Research Gets Personal (Part 2)

New York Bishops on Same-Sex "Marriage"