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Illegal Beings: Human Clones
Re: My proof that cloning,Human and Animal, is wrong
EternalWater7K ( 11/24/2004, 22:13:20 )Effort Renewed to Ban Human Cloning By Pete Winn, CitizenLink associate editor Opponents of human cloning have renewed their push for a complete ban on cloning research after an announcement this past weekend that a U.S. biotechnology company has cloned a human embryo for the first time. Kansas Republican U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, on Monday, called on Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to allow the Senate to consider his bill to impose a total ban on human cloning research. "We do have the votes to pass the Senate if this bill is allowed to be brought up," said Brownback spokesman, Eric Hotmire. President Bush also signaled his support for a total ban. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush "hopes that the Senate will act" on Brownback's legislation, which has already passed the House. "The use of embryos to clone is wrong," Bush later told reporters at a news conference. "We should not, as a society, grow life to destroy it. I have made that position very clear. I haven't changed my mind." The legislative push came in response to the announcement by Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT), based in Worcester, Mass., that their researchers had created a cloned human cell, utilizing a human egg and a human skin cell. Researchers removed the DNA from the egg cell and replaced it with DNA from the nucleus of the adult cell. The egg began dividing as if it had been fertilized by a sperm, but was stopped from becoming a baby. The private company said their breakthrough was aimed at creating stem cells to treat diseases, not at creating a human being. "Our intention is not to create cloned human beings, but rather to make lifesaving therapies for a wide range of human disease conditions, including diabetes, strokes, cancer, AIDS, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease,'' Dr. Robert Lanza, a vice president at ACT, said in a statement. Pro-family groups characterized the research itself as "dangerous" and "unethical." "This corporation is creating human embryos for the sole purpose of killing them and harvesting their cells," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee. "Unless Congress acts quickly, this corporation and others will be opening human embryo farms." Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst at Focus on the Family, echoed Johnson's sentiment. "This kind of research violates not only the sanctity of human life, but also the whole ethic of human dignity," Earll said. Scientifically, the announcement was an odd one -- that of a research failure, according to Andrew Kimbrell, director of the International Center for Technology Assessment. The ball of created cells actually died. "But it's still profoundly disturbing, because it has brought us to the brink of a profound ethical question," Kimbrell said. "Perhaps the announcement will be enough impetus for Congress to pass a total ban." Up to now, stem cell and cloning legislation has been stymied in the Senate. This fall, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., tried to gain full federal funding for stem cell research by adding an amendment to an appropriations bill. Brownback, in turn, pressed for an amendment that would force a vote on his bill to ban all forms of human cloning. In a compromise, the Senate majority leader promised that if both Specter and Brownback would withdraw their amendments and allow the appropriations bill to proceed, debate on both proposals would be scheduled for Senate consideration in either February or March 2002. Both senators agreed. However, ACT's weekend announcement caused Brownback to push for his cloning ban now. "This trumps the situation we were in several weeks ago," Brownback said. "We don't know who else in the country is working on the issue of human cloning. This needs to be stopped." TAKE ACTION Please contact your senators and ask them to communicate to Senate Majority Leader Daschle the necessity for the Senate to vote on Sen. Brownback's bill banning human cloning research, (S. 790/H.R. 2505). Also, urge them to vote "yes" on Brownback's cloning ban when it does come up for a vote. For help in contacting your senators, please see our Legislative Action Center. You can receive family news stories by email. Sign up now for this complimentary service. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2001 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
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HumanCloning.org™ Established December 11, 2002.
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