Ban corpse exhibition, says Church

Critics want a controversial exhibition featuring skinned human corpses to be banned before it reaches New Zealand.

But organisers of the Amazing Human Body Exhibition say there is already big demand in New Zealand for the event, which is an invaluable teaching tool and "not macabre in the slightest".

The exhibition features the preserved bodies of 20 people, including unborn babies, and more than 350 organs to demonstrate the inner workings of the human body.

The exhibition is due to open in Sydney on February 3 and will spend several months in Australia. Event manager Wayne Castle said he hoped to bring the collection to New Zealand between August and October.

It was likely to be staged in Auckland, and possibly Wellington, but no venues had yet been arranged. Mr Castle said he had been "inundated" with calls from New Zealanders asking when they could see the exhibition.

"It is one of the most amazing things. You can see the difference between a smoker's lung and a normal lung, you can see the effect of alcoholism on a liver, you can see what a hip replacement looks like," Mr Castle said.

Michael McCabe, director of the Catholic Church's Nathaniel Centre for bio-ethics, said the exhibition crossed a moral and ethical line and should be banned.

"I say that because in New Zealand we have laws and customs, which are time-honoured, for which we treat and honour the dead," Dr McCabe said.

"There is a general acceptance across all cultures that the body is sacred. Even if the adults have given consent for their bodies to be used in that way, and I would question that, I'm quite sure the foetuses didn't have any say or chance to give consent."

Family Life International warned the exhibition could lead the country down a dangerous path.

"The whole concern is that an exhibition like this would just be the beginning, if it proved popular. It would open up a door for more of the same," said spokesman Brendan Malone.

"Where do you go from here? You could make money out of abortion. It is crossing over into some very scary territory."

Mr Malone questioned whether the parents who gave up the bodies of their unborn children had any idea they would end up in an exhibition.

Mr McCabe said there were other, more respectful ways to teach than using human corpses.