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In
their first meeting Friday, President Barack Obama and
Pope Benedict XVI touched on the ethics of abortion and
stem cells.
The two leaders met at the Vatican's apostolic palace
where the pontiff offered Obama a copy of a document
titled "An Instruction on Certain Bioethical Questions."
While Obama supports abortion rights and funding
embryonic stem cell research, the Vatican is staunchly
opposed to both. In a paper that was released in
December, the Vatican hardened its opposition to using
embryos for stem cell research and affirmed the dignity
of every human life beginning at conception.
During private discussion on July 10, 2009 that lasted
about 40 minutes, Obama reaffirmed his personal
commitment to try to reduce the number of abortions in
the United States, according to Vatican spokesman the
Rev. Federico Lombardi.
Earlier this year at a highly publicized commencement at
the University of Notre Dame, Obama conceded that the
views of the pro-life and pro-choice camps are
"irreconcilable" and that each side will continue to
make its case.
But the president pressed for civil debate and urged a
search for "common ground." As they ended their meeting,
President Obama told Pope Benedict that he looks forward
to "a very strong relationship."
Earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that
even though the pope and Obama may not agree on
everything, "there are steps that can be taken ... that
will show progress, whether it's on something like
unintended pregnancy or adoption."
After taking office in January, Obama ended the Bush
administration's ban on funding international groups
that perform or promote abortions and also reversed a
ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
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