Bishops warn of 'moral chasm'

Embryo research and cloning have been lambasted in a 16-page report issued by Roman Catholic Bishops. The document, called 'Vote for the common good', was drawn up by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, led by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor. The document, to be distributed throughout parishes before the general election (thought to be on 3 May) urges people to vote according to their conscience and to be 'aware of the moral chasm' in British politics.

The report says that a 'stance on certain key issues can be very revealing of a candidate's overall values and priorities'. It has been welcomed by the Conservative party, which has been campaigning on moral values, saying 'moral issues can never be divorced from politics'.

The Bishops urge catholic voters to find out where their local election candidates stand on 'fundamental' moral issues such as abortion, embryo research and human cloning before they cast their votes. Regarding the topic of human life, the bishops said: 'The first and most basic duty of the democratic state is to protect the lives of all citizens without discrimination, particularly weak and vulnerable people.' Discussing the recent stem cell regulations, they said, 'a moral chasm has been opened by Parliament's decision to permit the creation and destruction of human embryos'. The Roman Catholic church has led the protests against the decision by the government to allow the harvesting of stem cells for research.

Robin Lovell-Badge, head of developmental genetics at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, noted that there had been a great deal of research on all the issues, and asked why the bishops did not 'believe in democracy'.