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Source: Pro-Life Infonet; February 5, 2003
Senators Introduce Fake Human Cloning
Ban, Pro-Life Groups Respond
Washington, DC -- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) yesterday introduced
a bill that would ban human reproductive cloning but permit the
creation of cloned human embryos for research purposes, strongly
opposed by pro-life organziations.
The bill would allow cloned embryos to be generated for the purpose
of extracting stem cells, the process of which involves the destruction
of the life of the unborn child. It rivals a bill sponsored by pro-life
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and others
that bans all human cloning for any purpose.
President Bush supports the Brownback measure and called on Congress
to ban all human cloning in his State of the Union address.
When very similar legislation was proposed last year by the same
group of senators, it was criticized as unworkable by the Justice
Department. Moreover, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy
Thompson sent a letter to Senator Brownback warning that such a
bill would face a presidential veto.
Thompson wrote, "The President does not believe that 'reproductive'
and 'research' cloning should be treated differently, given that
they both require the creation, exploitation, and destruction of
human embryos . . . the Administration could not support any measure
that purported to ban 'reproductive' cloning while authorizing 'research'
cloning, and I would recommend to the President that he veto such
a bill."
Although Hatch has long opposed abortion and been an advocate for
a number of pro-life causes, he said that he weighed the issue of
"when life begins" and concluded that "the fertilized egg is a living
human cell, but it has absolutely zero chance of becoming a living
human being unless it is implanted into a womb."
Asa a result, Hatch is now at odds with longtime pro-life allies
and with many of his constituents in Utah who believe embryos are
human beings and their destruction is equivalent to murder.
"I don't know anybody else in Congress who thinks that because you
are cloned you're not a human," said Richard Doerflinger, deputy
director of Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops. "And I don't know anybody else who says because you haven't
been implanted in a woman's womb, you don't have a soul.
Other leading pro-life advocates agreed.
The Hatch bill is falsely labeled as a bill to make "human cloning
a crime," and actually "would give a green light to the establishment
of human embryo farms," said a spokesman for the National Right
to Life Committee.
"This bill doesn't really ban any human cloning -- it bans human
clone survival, which is a radically different thing," said NRLC
Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "This bill would give a green
light to the establishment of what President Bush has called human
embryo farms. It is incorrect to say that we think it does not go
far enough -- rather, it is a step in the wrong direction. It does
not represent common ground, and it will not become law."
Hatch's bill is co-sponsored by four Senators typically at odds
with the pro-life community: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA)
A pro-life bill similar to the Brownback human cloning ban was introduced
in the House last month by pro-life Reps. Dave Weldon (R-FL) and
Bart Stupak (D-MI). It passed the house with broad bipartisan support
last year and is expected to do so again. The battle to ban all
human cloning continues to be fought largely in the Senate.
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