"President Bush correctly affirmed that 'life is a creation, not a commodity,'" said American Life League president Judie Brown. "The president's declaration that children should by accepted as gifts and not designed or manipulated as products means that we can't justify the production of children in laboratories by any method, for any reason."

In his remarks in support of the Brownback-Landrieu anti-cloning bill, President Bush denounced the utilitarian mentality that would advance the search for medical cures at the cost of the lives of human embryos. Yet countless human embryos die every day at in vitro fertilization facilities around the country and embryos are still being destroyed in privately funded stem cell research.

"We commend the president for his strong statement against human cloning," said Mrs. Brown. "It is our hope that the president's words will lead America to deeper respect for all human embryos, and that Mr. Bush will reexamine the stem cell decision he announced last August. The exact same arguments the president applied to human cloning also apply to human embryonic stem cell research. This utilitarian use of human life should also be prohibited."

Release issued: 11 Apr 02