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Cloning OK'd by Clinton |
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By Randolfe Wicker
Only private firms receiving no governmental funding would create the stem cell cultures. Turning an embryo into a stem cell culture essentially destroys the embryo's ability to develop further, “killing its potential to become a human being”. The Catholic Church views this as “the destruction of a human life” Permission from those creating the original embryo is required. They are not allowed to receive any financial reward for such donations. Biologists have to be approved by four separate review groups and panels before receiving money. The American proposals were derided as “timid, overly cautious and burdened by bureaucracy” by cloning activists. Indeed, the Clinton Administration's approach received support across the political spectrum. The New York Times editorial was titled “Sensible Rules for Stem Cell Research”.
The stem cell culture derived in this fashion, if coaxed successfully into differentiating into heart, liver, kidney cells or any of the other 227 types of cells composing the human body, would be totally compatible with the patient and could be used to repair any part of that patient's body. The English debate has become so intense that the political parties have released their individual members to vote on the proposal as their conscience dictates. Some Conservative members of the House of Commons were declaring themselves as both “Right-To-Life” and “stem cell research” supporters. Meanwhile, as the debate raged over stem cell research, both science and public events were moving quicker that the debating politicians. The birth of a cloned cow was announced by the University of Tennessee. Researchers had discovered a quicker and less complicated method than that used to clone Dolly the sheep. Ironically, it was Tennessee's Republican Senator Frisk who had sponsored the first bill to make cloning a violation of Federal law in 1998. That bill was defeated by a bi-partisan coalition 54 to 42 Simultaneously, a Montreal-based religious group, The Raelians, announced that they had gotten $500,000 to attempt cloning a recently deceased child. They predicted that they would have a child conceived through cloning on its way by the end of this year. |
Pope John Paul II opposes human cloning 