I have no intention of prolonging this “dialogue” with Fr Robert Soler (November 14) as we’ll never see eye-to-eye on this subject – my background is medical science for prevention and/or relief of suffering and for life extension, and is not in blind faith in unproven concepts.

In a liberal democracy religions have obviously a right to express their views, but ultimately decisions on the functions of the state rest with parliament.

The Westminster one, for instance, has not only Christian MPs but also Jewish, Hindu and Muslim ones, besides possibly some agnostics, reflecting its now multicultural society.

The British medical profession discussed the various ethical considerations of embryonal scientific research about a decade ago, including such questions as when is an embryo a person.

The Jewish view, for instance, was that a foetus wasn’t a person untilborn alive.

A Lancet article at the time discussed also the Roman Catholic views and how they had varied over the centuries.

Eventually the British parliament gave the go-ahead for embryonal stem cell research as this could open up new knowledge on the many serious diseases we still do not understand.

In a liberal democracy parliament is sovereign and has every right to decide the way forward.

Finally, Fr Soler seems to be declaring that “proclaiming the dignity and worth of life itself” is a “higher service” than medical effort to relieve suffering.

I suppose this might be based on the belief that suffering is some gift from the Supernatural.

I’m afraid I see no scientific basis for such a belief.

(The author is a former departmental head and deputy dean at the Malta Medical School.)