Sir, - I welcome very much the recent statement by the Medical Council that the destruction of human life is, and continues to be, medical malpractice. This would include the destruction of embryos - by their disposal, by means of invasive research, or indeed by replacing them in the cervix (where they have no realistic chance of survival) rather than in the uterus.
I am, however, somewhat concerned at the statement that it is, nonetheless, acceptable to freeze embryos. There are a number of reasons for this concern. In the first place, there is no legislation in place to determine how, or under whose care, embryos are to be stored. Do they "belong" to the parents? Do doctors or technicians have a responsibility of care, which is akin to guardianship?
Secondly, the reality is that, in other jurisdictions, embryos remain in storage only for a set period of time (e.g. five years in Britain), after which they are given to other couples, used for research, or destroyed. An article in The Irish Times of November 26th indicates that one hospital in Ireland is already making provision to dispose of surplus embryos after five years. Under current guidelines it is unethical to use embryos for research purposes, or to destroy them. I am not aware of any legislation or professional guidelines which govern the question of embryo donation.
We are left, therefore, with two possible scenarios. One scenario is that there is no limit to how long embryos can be stored. The other scenario is that there is a time limit, and the issues presented by that time limit have still not been addressed. - Yours, etc., Fr Kevin Doran,
St Lawrence Rd., Clontarf, Dublin 3.