Several countries have outlawed human cloning, including Australia, France, Norway, Taiwan, and very soon, Canada. Indeed, there is much about which to be optimistic.

So, why hasn't the United States passed such a law? In fact, a legal ban was nearly enacted last year. The House of Representatives voted to outlaw all human cloning. The Senate version of the bill authored by Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA), looked as if it might pass. President Bush promised to sign it. [BROWNBACK-LANDRIEU BILL] But then, cloning advocates convinced some Senators that stem cells from human cloning might be necessary to achieve the next generation of medical breakthroughs. This is called "therapeutic cloning". That led Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) to introduce a bill to permit therapeutic cloning and only outlaw reproductive cloning. Last year neither bill passed the Senate. Today, Senators Feinstein, Kennedy, and Specter will reintroduce their bill in a press conference at noon to promote its passage.

Therapeutic cloning advocates claim that clone embryos would be destroyed within a week or two of their creation. As morally unacceptable as that would be, such a line would not hold. Indeed, the New Jersey Senate has already passed legislation that would not only permit the creation of human clones but permit them to be gestated through the ninth month of pregnancy.

Cloning legislation is often loaded with euphemisms. Important details are often hidden between the lines or buried in amendments. One short line of the New Jersey three-page bill authorizes therapeutic cloning but outlaws cloning a "human being"- meaning bringing a cloned embryo to live birth. The legislation would permit implantation of clone embryos into wombs. Since only newborn clones are actually outlawed, the legislation would then require their abortion. [SB 1909]

Yes, this is awful. Yes, it is anti-human. Yes, it would result in human life being treated as if it were a mere natural resource akin to a prize cattle herd. But it is not cause for despair. Americans do not want a Brave New World. I am convinced that the more Americans learn the truth about cloning, the more they will insist that it be outlawed.

Here's even more good news: We don't need cloning to obtain medical breakthroughs. Adult stem cells found in bone marrow, fat, and body organs have tremendous healing potential. Indeed, human trials using adult stem cells have already begun. Patients with heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and in one case, with Parkinson's disease have already benefited from this moral research. [DO NO HARM - The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics]

A new bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to ban human cloning. [WELDON BILL] A Senate version of the ban will soon follow. Your representatives and senators will soon be voting on this important legislation.

"The idea of using cloned embryos for medical research pretty much split along ideological lines: The left was for it and the right opposed it. Until recently, that is.

Now, an increasing number of liberal voices are piping up to oppose therapeutic cloning, proving, if nothing else, that this is no black-and-white issue. The hope of finding a simple solution can pretty much be forgotten, too.

One fear for liberals is that if therapeutic cloning is allowed, legislators might try to ban the implanting of the cloned embryo. Policy experts, researchers and women's rights activists worry about the residual effects and unconstitutionality of such legislation."

Wired News - March 25, 2002