The United States Senate is currently battling between
two different cloning bills. The bill proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein
would ban reproductive cloning - cloning that would produce viable human babies
- but would allow the production of human embryos for stem cell research.
Senator Sam Brownback's bill, similar to the bill passed by the House last year,
would absolutely outlaw any cloning research that destroys human embryos.
Those in favor of Feinstein's bill argue that the embryos for stem cell
research would be unfertilized embryos created through a technology called
somatic cell nuclear transfer, and would have had genetic material
removed. They reason that these embryos do not constitute true human
life. Stem cells are capable of turning into any kind of cell in the body,
and according to Carl Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry
Organization, "cellular and tissue transplants that could emerge from this
technology could benefit tens of millions of Americans who suffer from
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, diabetes, cancer, spinal cord injuries,
stroke, and heart disease."
Many in favor of Feinstein's bill, like actor Christopher Reeve, believe that
the rejection of embryonic cloning is simply a fear of new science, and are
concerned that if cloning is banned, the research will go underground where it
will be unregulated and uncontrolled.
However, supporters of Brownback's bill oppose human cloning of any
sort. They argue that creating embryos only to destroy them constitutes
murder, and point to the other possibilities of using adult stem cells and
existing stem cell lines as alternative venues for therapy research. Adult
stem cells, found in bone marrow and other tissues, can be used for the
therapies on those suffering from the ailments listed by Carl Feldbaum - without
the ethical problems posed by embryonic stem cell research.
Some are also concerned about where the
research on embryos could lead as technology and public opinion allow.
They worry that while the research may start first with six-celled embryos, it
could eventually expand into reproductive cloning that implants women with
cloned embryos.
While many debates in the Senate are drawn between the left and the right,
this battle is not. Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana, a Democrat,
insisted that "the human body is not a commodity to be mass-produced and
stripped for its parts." At the same time, conservative Republican Orrin
Hatch of Utah has said that he is not against 'therapeutic cloning' if it will
help children suffering from serious diseases.
Several senators, such as those in Georgia and North Dakota, are still
undecided on the issue.
