Yesterday, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan), the chief proponent of legislation that would make illegal all uses of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technology, rejected a proposal that the Senate debate his ban and two other bills for three days beginning Friday. The two other bills were: 1) an alternative, put forward by Senators Kennedy, Feinstein, Specter, and Hatch, that would allow the use of SCNT for research and therapy to cure devastating degenerative diseases- like Parkinson's and diabetes, while illegalizing its use for reproductive purposes; and 2) Senator Brownback's proposal for a two-year moratorium on all uses of cloning technology.

Republican supporters of the Brownback/Landrieu bill, the Senate equivalent of a total ban on cloning that passed the House last summer by 265 votes to 162, realized that they would be unable to muster the 60 votes needed to pass their bill. Strategy was modified to offer the two-year moratorium in its stead.

Both sides credit the intense lobbying and education efforts mounted by scientists, doctors, and patients with increasing Senate members' understanding of this important and complex issue. When the House bill passed, most lawmakers had not given serious consideration to the research and therapeutic possibilities that cloning technology offers. They voted their gut reaction: repugnance at the idea of producing cloned human children. President Bush was quick to express his support of a total ban. But since last summer, patient advocates, professional societies, academic organizations, and bio-tech industry representatives have rallied- providing witnesses for hearings, visiting Senators and their staff with experts who explain the science in depth and patients who expressed the impact of the science on the lives of everyday people. Compelling support came from the National Academy of Science's report in favor of the use of SCNT for research and therapy and a letter from 40 Nobel laureates advocating its use.

Senator Brownback intends to continue to work for a ban on all uses of human cloning by proposing amendments to unrelated legislation. He may pursue this through the idea of a two-year moratorium. This moratorium would derail important research in progress and indefinitely postpone important medical breakthroughs. It's likely that many researchers, forced to abandon their investigations in this country, would relocate to other countries, like the UK or Belgium where they would be allowed to continue their work. Others would change their research focus and would be reluctant to pick SCNT up again where they left off. The challenge has now become to convey the significance of this to the Senators and avert the moratorium.

For a good article, see The Boston Globe-

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/164/nation/Human_cloning_ban_falters_
in_the_Senate+.shtml