Clone hearings continue

WASHINGTON, DC — One day after President Bush reiterated his call for a ban on all human cloning in his "State of the Union" address, Senators and Congressman continued their debate on the topic at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space. Committee chair Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan) introduced legislation that would ban all human cloning. Brownback's bill mirrors one reintroduced in the House of Representatives by Dave Weldon (R-Fla) on January 8; Weldon's original version passed in the House in July of 2001 by a wide margin. The bills stipulate jail time and $1 million in fines for anyone attempting to clone a human being.Wednesday's hearing, the latest of several, focused on the ongoing crux of the debate: the very definition of "cloning." Witnesses attempted to clarify the distinction, if any, between reproductive cloning and the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) for so-called therapeutic cloning.Some policymakers and many scientists point out that only the intention differs. The former involves implantation in a womb for the purpose of creating an infant; in the case of the latter, scientists intend only to derive embryonic stem cells for disease research. Brownback and Weldon, a physician for 15 years, resisted such a distinction. "Science…tells us that there is only one type of cloning and, when successful, always results in the creation of a young human. Initially a human embryo, eventually a live birth," Brownback told a crowded hearing. "All cloning is reproductive. By that, I mean all human cloning produces another human life." "Absent our bill, we will usher in an era where women will be exploited by experimental research cloning corporations for their eggs. Millions of women's eggs will be purchased for use in cloning experiments," Weldon testified. "I find it hard to believe that some would embrace exposing these women to serious medical procedures in order to harvest their eggs for experiments."Weldon asserted that the production of cloned human embryos in labs would lead to reproductive cloning, which would be impossible to police. "The implantation of a cloned human embryo into the womb of a surrogate mother would occur in the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship," he said. Weldon also cautioned that the development of an artificial womb, underway in the US and Japan, will eventually have scientists asking to be allowed to grow embryos long enough in such a device to get differentiated cells.Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn) testified in favor of therapeutic cloning. "Life does not begin in a petri dish," Hatch said in his testimony. "I believe that human life requires and begins in a mother's nurturing womb." After delivering their testimony early, both Senators Hatch and Specter left to attend to other appointments, leaving a decidedly anti-SCNT contingent of witnesses and committee members. Senators Specter, Hatch, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) are working on their own bill that would prohibit reproductive cloning but allow therapeutic cloning. "A lot of people are trying to put lipstick on a pig," commented Weldon on what he sees as a false distinction made between therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Weldon also asserted there's too little data now and that if animal research eventually shows promise, legislators could "revisit the issue."Subcommittee member Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) responded that revisiting the issue ignores the immediate concerns of millions of people hoping that cloning and stem cells will lead to cures for diseases. Witness Leon Kass, president of the President's Council on Bioethics, urged a ban on all human cloning as well. In a report issued last summer, a majority of Council members favored a ban on reproductive cloning and a moratorium on cloning for the purpose of biomedical research in order to allow for more public discussion, more research, and careful consideration of oversight said Kass. Seven of the other 17 Council members, however, advocated cloning for biomedical research. It is Kass' hope, he told the committee, that Congress will ban all types of human cloning and, in so doing, will "strike a blow in the defense of human dignity."

Clone hearings continue

US Senate revisits issue of human cloning as Brownback introduces bill to ban it.

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