U.S. House votes to ban human cloning

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

NEW YORK, AUG. 1. Calling it, among other things, ``science gone crazy'', the U.S. House of Representatives voted to ban all cloning of human embryos. By a vote of 265 to 162 the House outlawed human cloning with fines up to $ 1 million and a 10-year prison term to anyone involved in this profession or trade.

``This House should not be giving the green light to mad scientists to tinker with the gift of life. It is science gone crazy'', argued the Republican Congressman, Mr. J. C. Watts. The Bill passed the House with the support of 200 Republicans, 63 Democrats and 2 Independents.

The vote to ban human cloning came shortly after the House defeated an alternative proposal to allow cloning solely for research that would be helpful in coming to terms with terrible diseases. That was rejected by a 249 to 178 vote. The philosophical and scientific debate and differences aside, the general consensus was that human beings should not be cloned, as was produced ``Dolly'' the sheep, in 1997.

A similar Bill on human cloning has been introduced in the Senate by Mr. Sam Brownback, Republican from Kansas. And the Senate Majority Leader, Mr. Tom Daschle, has said that he is ``opposed to the effort to clone under virtually any circumstance''. But Mr. Brownback's office has maintained that Mr. Daschle has done little to advance the Bill.

The House vote on banning human cloning and the pending vote in the Senate come at a time when the President, Mr. George W. Bush, is getting ready to decide whether to permit Federal funding of research on stem cells derived from human embryos. Mr. Bush supported the ban on human cloning. ``The moral and ethical issues posed by human cloning are profound and cannot be ignored in the quest for scientific discovery'', the administration maintained prior to the House vote.

After the vote in the House of Representatives, Mr. Bush hailed the outcome saying, ``We must advance the promise and cause of science, but must do so in a way that honours and respects life''. But those who opposed the outright ban on human cloning argued that a legislative defeat would make stem cell research more difficult. In the House many law makers who supported stem cell research voted for the ban on human cloning.

The White House has come under intense pressure and lobbying with respect to Federal funding on stem cell research. Those who want the President to come out positively argue that research in this area will go a long way in coming to grips with such diseases as Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

But during a recent trip to Europe, Pope John Paul II urged Mr. Bush to reject research on stem cells. The President is expected to take a position somewhere in the middle - that is, proceeding with Federal funding for research in the area but with tough restrictions.

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Section  : International
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