Wisconsin governor says no to his Bishop(s)

He will not "rethink". Well that explains it all then.

Gov. Jim Doyle broke with Wisconsin's two most prominent Catholic bishops on Wednesday, bluntly telling them he would not rethink his strong support of embryonic stem cell research.

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"While I appreciate your thoughts on this important issue, I also feel a responsibility to promote vital research which holds the potential to save countless lives and bring thousands of jobs to our state," Doyle, a Catholic, wrote in a letter to Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Madison Bishop Robert Morlino.

The Democratic governor wrote in response to the bishops' letter on Monday in which they criticized an executive order he signed last month setting aside $5 million to recruit companies doing stem cell research to Wisconsin.

The bishops called the potential to cure illness a "morally flawed justification" for destroying embryos but said they were more troubled that Doyle was also emphasizing the economic development aspects of the research.

"To justify such research on economic grounds takes the conversation in a disconcerting direction - a direction that further diminishes human embryos to mere commodities," the bishops wrote.

The governor responded that the research typically involves using embryos leftover at fertility clinics that would be discarded anyway.

"The ultimate question isn't whether embryos will be destroyed, but whether we should allow a few of those unused embryos to be utilized saving lives instead of discarding them," Doyle wrote. "I believe we should come down on the side of saving lives."

But Doyle has also backed a more controversial technique known as therapeutic cloning in which scientists artificially create embryos to extract their stem cells to study disease and cell growth.

He vetoed a bill approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year that would have made the technique a crime, saying it would have sent researchers fleeing for other states and squandered Wisconsin's chance to be a leader in the field.

Doyle is a disaster as a Catholic, but a good match to liberal Wisconsin.
Looks like he as made his choice, that even the Bishops can not alter. Hopefully
Doyle will be gone soon.