Just two weeks ago, the House voted on a bill (H.R. 2560) to authorize human cloning. The Editors of National Review Online write that the bill would have allowed scientists to create human embryos for the express purpose of destroying them to harvest stem cells. Of course, Pelosi and the rest of her colleagues know that, so they wrote the bill in such a way that it appears to ban cloning. They use essentially the same tactic and terminology that was used on Amendment 2 (which passed) in the 2006 Missouri elections: scientists are forbidden to implant a cloned embryo into a womb, thus 'banning' human cloning. But, the actual cloning process itself is completely legal.
As David Christensen writes, this bill would create a human cloning industry which -- through the doctor-patient privacy privilege -- law enforcement couldn't touch. Upon passage of such a bill, would researchers actually attempt to clone human beings? Yes. It's already been done in South Korea, where scientists have paid over 100 women for over 2,000 eggs. A human being has not yet been successfully cloned, but this should be an obvious warning to Americans. Another questionable clause in the bill would forfeit any property used to violate the ban on human cloning to the government. So, if a cloned baby were discovered, would the baby become the property of the US government? These questions are alarming, and the only way to avoid them altogether is to truly ban all attempts at cloning embryos, whether inside or outside of the womb.
The issue of stem cells is, of course, tightly interwoven with that of abortion. Why? It basically comes down to this: embryonic stem cells (i.e. pluripotent cells) have the potential to change into any type of cell found in the body, giving them the most 'potential' for usefulness. But, obviously, they can only come from embryos, which many Americans consider to be an early stage of human development. Therefore, to destroy an embryo is to destroy a human life. One of the resources I pointed out at the last election was this article from the St. Louis Center for Bioethics and Culture which describes the process of embryonic stem cell harvesting - if you don't understand how it works, check this out. I leave it to you to decide for yourself whether or not this process contitutes the destruction of a human life, but make sure you understand what is involved before you make your decision.
Anyway, the situation we have here is that what some believe is the greatest amount of potential for good treatments also requires by far the greatest amount of ethical and moral grappling. The catch is that there has not been a single cure or treatment produced from embryonic stem cell research. That's right, not a single one.
So what do we do? Fortunately, there are perfectly viable alternatives: adult stem cells and cord blood. To date, scientists have created over 70 proven treatments using adult stem cells, including treatments for Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, and anemia. Even better, researchers in Massachusetts recently found a way to transform regular skin cells into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells in mice. If we can funnel money into adult stem cell research, which has already shown tremendous promise and real results -- especially if these adult stem cells have the same function as embryonic stem cells -- while avoiding all of the ethical and moral questions, why wouldn't we? Similarly, cord blood banks, which collect and catalog umbilical cord blood to provide another method of obtaining viable stem cells, completely avoid the ethical and moral questions that squarely oppose embryonic stem cell research.
Fortunately, the human cloning bill didn't pass in the House - even 31 Democrats voted against it; even if it had passed, President Bush has vowed to veto any such bill that comes to his desk. It's good that the correct result was achieved in this instance, but the fact that such a bill even came up should be a shocking wake-up call that this issue is very much alive and kicking. Not to mention the fact that it was addressed during the much-publicized furor over the Senate immigration bill - was it coincidental timing, or slick political opportunism? Be aware, and pay attention. It'll be back again.
There's my two cents.
***Update: Here's a link to a chart that shows the list of treatments developed from adult stem cells.
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