There's almost certainly an element of laziness in the coverage which, considering the importance of the question, is itself deplorable. But there also seems something more than misleading shorthand at work. Many of the country's newspapers and pundit talking heads appear to be using their coverage of questions of Church membership and discipline as an opportunity to encourage religious strife. The Roman Catholic Church is said to oppose stem-cell research. Office holders and politicians are said to be counseled by their bishops to oppose stem-cell research.



Research on stem cells is not, has not been claimed to be, morally objectionable. It is the deliberate killing of the donor that is morally wrong. That is not a distinction without a difference.