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Article: CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS OF PAST WERE RIGHT ABOUT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN EMBRYOS.(EDITORIAL)(Letter to the Editor)
- Article from:
- The Capital Times
- Article date:
- March 26, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Capital Newspapers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: B.R. McCarthy, Madison
Dear Editor: Today many will be surprised to learn that there was a time when major Catholic theologians were aware that there is no specific divine revelation concerning the stage of development at which the embryo could be seen as a human person, with all the corresponding rights.
As a consequence, they saw no alternative to an attempt to determine when the biological presuppositions for specifically human thought and responsible action were present: sufficient development of the brain and nervous system.
Apparently the starting point was St. Anselm's (1033-1109) trenchant statement that "no human intellect ...