Brasília,6/28/2004(Agência Brasil) – The Catholic Bishop's Conference of Brazil is sending letters to members of the Senate opposing the use of human embryos to obtain stem cells for therapeutical purposes as a vote on what is known as the Biosecurity Law seems imminent.

"We are not against science. We are in favor of life. The joining of sperm and the egg characterizes the beginning of life, which is an end in itself and cannot be used for other purposes," declared the secretary general of the CNBB, Dom Odilo Pedro Scherer.

"We want the members of the Senate to take their time in deciding. We believe that studies on this subject are not sufficient to permit legislating on it," declared the CNBB president, cardinal Dom Geraldo Majella Agnelo.

The CNBB letter calls for "responsible use" of stem cells, limiting their extraction. It also rebukes the use of people with special needs in advertising in favor of biotechnology. The CNBB says that genetic therapy is not some kind of panacea that will cure all the ills of the world.

The Biosecurity Law deals with the therapeutical use of stem cells, as well as genetically-modified crops.

(Translator: Allen Bennett)