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The New York Times, 30 de mayo de 2001 Clash on Use of Embryos in Germany Stirs Echoes of Nazi Era By Roger Cohen BERLIN, May 29 - A sharp debate clouded by memories of the Third Reich has erupted in Germany over the ethics of research in biotechnology and particularly the use of embryos for genetic inquiry and diagnosis. The discussion has pitted Chancellor Gerhard Schröder against President Johannes Rau, whose role is generally ceremonial but assumes significance in such ethical matters, where the presidency is expected to act as a sort of moral arbiter. Mr. Schröder, a pragmatic Social Democrat, has taken a generally laissez-faire view, arguing that gene technology produces new drugs, creates new jobs and presents new opportunities for Germany. About 20 percent of European biotechnology companies are in Germany and the sector is growing by 30 percent a year. Rejecting the argument that human dignity would be compromised by allowing research on in vitro embryos, Mr. Schröder has said that human dignity is linked above all to "access to gainful employment" and that the economic possibilities of biotechnology are too vast to ignore. Such themes have been passionately debated in the United States and in many European countries of late. But they are particularly sensitive in Germany because of the extensive euthanasia program and other Nazi medical experiments aimed at fashioning an unblemished master Aryan race. Since he was elected in 1998, Mr. Schröder has aimed to remove or attenuate a number of taboos prevalent because of the Nazi past. He speaks freely of German power, interests and ambitions, both political and economic, in a way that was unthinkable even a decade ago. In extending this policy to the field of genetic research and engineering, he has evidently angered Mr. Rau, another Social Democrat. Using unusually vehement language for a German president, Mr. Rau said last week that "eugenics, euthanasia and selection are labels which are linked to bad memories in Germany." Appearing to rebuff the chancellor, he added, "Where human dignity is affected, economic arguments do not count." Much of the debate has centered on whether to allow genetic research on embryos - currently banned under a 1990 law - and what to do about the practice, permitted in some other European countries, of analyzing in vitro embryos for possible defects before implantation in the womb. The Bush administration has been antagonistic toward research on embryos because it intersects with moral questions about abortion. The technique known as pre-implantation diagnosis is allowed in certain circumstances in Britain and France. But in Germany, up to now, "it has not been possible to diagnose in vitro embryos or to stop the implantation of a fertilized egg," said Dietmar Mieth, a professor of theological ethics. While saying that the law should remain unchanged "for now," Mr. Schröder has said research on embryos could be positive if it helped scientific progress and led to lives being saved. "Our moral responsibility is also to take care of our jobs and well being," the chancellor said. This week, former President Roman Herzog argued in the daily Die Welt that an absolute ban on research on stem cells from embryos - which have the ability to develop into the body's different tissues - would be excessive. "I am not prepared to explain to a child sick with cystic fibrosis, facing death and fighting for breath, the ethical grounds that hinder the science which could save him," Mr. Herzog said. But Mr. Rau argued that any experiments on embryos were treacherous. "Those who begin to instrumentalize human life, to differentiate between worthy of life and unworthy of life, are on a runaway train," he said. An opinion poll published today by Die Welt suggested that most Germans back Mr. Rau's position. Asked whether embryo research that creates jobs and prosperity was more important than the ethical questions surrounding it, 70 percent said ethical considerations should take priority. Prof. Mieth suggested that two factors had come together to stimulate the current impassioned discussions in Germany, which have included a number of often vehement television debates and a great deal of opining from doctors and priests. The first, he said, was the emergence of a class of ever more ambitious German parents determined to have children that would succeed in an increasingly competitive society. "Individual wishes are driving the possible emergence of eugenics, not the state, because people want children for whom they can be ambitious," he argued. The second factor, Prof. Mieth said, was the emergence of the medical and scientific possibilities that mean it is no longer fanciful to think in terms of the selection of certain characteristics for a child. "For Mr. Schröder, all these developments are a matter of management," Prof. Mieth added. "For Mr. Rau, they are a matter of ethics."
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