Cloning/Stem Cell Research:
Cloning Will Go Forward Unless Complete Ban is Passed

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By Toni Meyer, Sr. Research Analyst, NJ Family Policy Council

Even though the Raelian cult’s clone announcement is turning out to be a hoax, that which is not prohibited by law will be permitted – human cloning will go forward. Not only are there currently no laws in effect to prevent it, some legislators are working to legalize it. In December, NJ State Senators approved a bill (S-1909/A-2840) that permits experiments on human embryos, including those from “somatic cell nuclear transplantation”, otherwise known as therapeutic human cloning. This type of cloning allows for the artificial manufacturing of cloned human beings for implantation in a uterus at the embryonic stage. Further, after implantation, it allows more experimentation and organ harvesting as long as the baby is killed at any time from the embryonic period right up to the ninth month of pregnancy.

How could this be happening – growing babies to harvest their parts? Evidence continues to mount that the general public wants a ban on human cloning. A new poll released in Dec. 2002 from John’s Hopkins University shows that 76 percent of Americans are against scientific efforts to clone humans – and they are especially fearful of the moral implications .

There are reasons for us to be fearful of legalizing any type cloning. Therapeutic cloning as outlined in the NJ Senate bill, while being touted by some as holding promise for developing new treatments for serious diseases, sanctions the destruction of a baby up to the ninth month of pregnancy. This flies in the face of the will of the majority of New Jerseyans, who still value life enough to support stricter limits on the aborting of unborn children. Besides, based on existing research we do not need to destroy human embryos to find new cures for many diseases and even spinal cord injuries, because adult stem cells have already shown equal if not more promising results. Another fearful implication of cloning is the amount of babies that will be subjected to death at various stages of growth. American Cell Technologies concedes that only about 2-3% of efforts to clone cattle are even successful. This means that ordinarily, about 97% of the simplest cloned animal embryos die prior to birth. Even more brutal is the thought of subjecting cloned babies who are born, to the dangers of serious developmental defects. And what about the woman who has a cloned embryo in utero? Dr. Ian Wilmut, Dolly the sheep’s creator, began with 277 sheep eggs, and wound up with a single sheep; 239 became embryos that were implanted in 13 sheep; 12 out of 13 of the sheep miscarried .

On January 8th, U. S. Congressional Reps. Dave Weldon (R-Florida) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich), introduced the Human Cloning Prohibition Act, the only bill that will prevent both Raelian-style reproductive cloning, where a human is cloned, implanted in a uterus and born, and the so-called “therapeutic cloning” proposed in NJ, where a human embryo is developed for the purpose of medical harvesting and subsequent death. Our U.S. Representatives need to hear from us now, so that the will of those of us who elect them can be made into law – not the wishes of powerful corporate lobbyists who have more regard for profits than for the intrinsic value of human life

 

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