| Bush Blasts Cloning of Human Cells | |
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Dateline: 11/26/01
Calling it the "first crossing of the line," the White House has officially spoken out against breakthrough research into human cloning recently announced by a Massachusetts company.
Advanced Cell Technology Inc., of Worcester revealed on November 25 that it had successfully grown a microscopic group of human embryo cells using cloning technology. Researchers were quick to point out, however, that their goal was not to create complete cloned human beings, but to use of the cloned embryos as a rich source of stem cells needed to fight a wide variety of diseases and disorders.
"This is indeed a milestone in therapeutic cloning," Mary Ann Liebert, publisher of the online journal E-biomed, which carried the report, said in a press release.
"These preliminary results, which add to the weight of evidence that human cell reprogramming is possible, are very significant given the importance of the growing field of regenerative medicine."
Medical researchers have praised stem cells as a vital tool leading to possible cures to ailments including spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes and stroke.
Federal law currently the use of taxpayer money to fund any stem cell research employing human cloning technology but Advanced Cell Technologies is a private company receiving no federal funds.
Privately funded or not, President Bush used the announcement to urge the Senate to pass H.R. 2505, The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001, passed 265-162 by the House in August.
Of human cloning, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer stated in a Monday press conference, "Banning it would be in the president's view ... a wise action to take."
"The president hopes that as a result of this first crossing of the line and this first step into the morally consequential realm of creating a life to take a life in the name of science, that the Senate will act on the House legislation so that this procedure can be banned," stated Fleischer.
Speaking briefly to reporters at a ceremony honoring the return of the two American aid workers held prisoner by the Taliban for three months, the president stated on Monday, "The use of embryos to clone is wrong. We should not, as a society, grow life to destroy it, and that's exactly what is taking place."
The anti-cloning bill (H.R. 2505), passed by the House establishes both civil and criminal punishment for conducting human cloning research and states, in part:
It shall be unlawful for any person or entity, public or private, in or affecting interstate commerce, knowingly -- to perform or attempt to perform human cloning; to participate in an attempt to perform human cloning; or to ship or receive for any purpose an embryo produced by human cloning or any product derived from such embryo." - From H.R. 2505, The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001
The bill is now in the Senate, where a mix of opinions promises a heated debate.
Appearing on CNN's "Late Edition," Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin stated, "With this new breakthrough, the Senate will step back and say we can see that we can't stop the march of science; where do we want the draw the proper public policy and moral lines?"
On "FOX News Sunday" Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said, "I support the cloning for research purposes, but we vehemently oppose any cloning for purposes of human replication."
Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby told an NBC "Meet the Press" panel, "I believe it will be perhaps a big debate, but at the end of the day I don't believe that we're going to let the cloning of human embryos go on."
With Congress still working on the 2002 federal budget and the huge and controversial defense spending bill still ahead of it, the Senate has not yet scheduled the human cloning ban for debate.
