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We that the Catholic Church regarded the morning-after pill as "gravely immoral", since it prevents implantation by an embryo (and therefore constitutes an "abortifacient" in church terms), and that teaching is re-stated here. The Vatican believes the morning-after pill should not be administered by Catholic physicians .

In essence, the new document reaffirms the moral and theological principles outlined in Donum vitae and applies those principles to some new technologies and research programmes, such as cloning ("intrinsically illicit"), embryo-freezing ("incompatible with the respect owed to human embryos"), gene therapy ("it is not morally permissible to act in a way that may cause possible harm to the resulting progeny") and stem cell research ("research initiatives involving the use of adult stem cells, since they do not present ethical problems, should be encouraged and supported" but "obtaining of stem cells from a living human embryo, on the other hand, invariably causes the death of the embryo and is consequently gravely illicit").

The document reasserts the church's already-stated opposition to artificial reproduction techniques and technologies, but invites readers to recognise that "Behind every 'no' in the difficult task of discerning between good and evil, there shines a great 'yes' to the recognition of the dignity and inalienable value of every single and unique human being called into existence."

In respect of germ-line therapies, the document offers more detail in explaining the church's already stated opposition to those technologies.

You can read Dignitas personae (in English) in full .