American
Bioethics Advisory Commission
American
Bioethics Advisory Commission
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United States Opposes Ban on Human Cloning
Despite the powerful rhetoric of the White House about the dangers of human cloning, the United States is not trying to stop human cloning, and is in fact opposing international efforts to ban human cloning.
On September 18, 1997, a French jurist thanked American bioethicists because the American delegation to a UNESCO meeting was helpful in beating back a German proposal to ban human cloning. Noelle Lenoir, a member of the French Constitutional Court and the chair of the International Bioethics Committe of UNESCO, spoke briefly before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. She stated clearly that the American government has opposed an international ban on human cloning.
On June 9, President Clinton stated his opposition to the"cloning of a human being." The phrase is tangled, and is not the same as "human cloning." The President's phrase refers to somatic cell nuclear transfer and implantation in order to get a cloned adult human. That is, banning "cloning human beings" could leave open the possibility of cloning human embryos for research purposes, as long as the embryonic humans do not survive long. Further, the actual language of the President's proposed bill sent to Congress would ban only cloning with intent to implant: this would permit one person to clone and another to implant. So there is confusion about the President's position. Nonetheless, he stated unequivocally that he supported some kind of ban. Despite that, the American delegation to UNESCO opposed any ban.
Also see:
1. Lenoir's remarks: summary with comments
3. notes on conversation with Gerhardt Fulda
4. letter to White House (no response received)