Why a MORATORIUM on SCNT*/Human Therapeutic Cloning Equals a BAN on Life-Saving Medical Research

MORATORIUM = BAN

• A moratorium would mean that important medical breakthroughs are put on hold indefinitely. People suffering from disease are told they will just have to wait for their cures. Many of these patients do not have time to wait and a research delay could be a death sentence. 2.
• A moratorium sends a strong signal to the scientific community that SCNT/human therapeutic cloning should not be pursued. Further, it stigmatizes this research as suspect. Researchers will be unwilling to pursue this important area of science because of the stigma as well as the uncertainty about whether it will ever become an accepted form of research. 3.
• There is no clear timeframe for when the moratorium would end and no clear criteria for how the moratorium would be structured. It just goes on and on, without any monitoring, as scientists? hands are tied from pursuing critical research. Shutting down research today and restarting it when a moratorium is lifted is illogical. For example, a two-year moratorium will hold back science much longer than two years. 4.
• The Food and Drug Administration already requires medical research - including SCNT/human therapeutic cloning - to be done only after disinterested review by an institutional review board ("IRB"). IRBs ensure that research risks are both minimized and reasonable, including those associated with egg donation or tissue transplantation; that participation (including egg donation) is informed and free of coercion or undue inducements; and that research materials (e.g., embryos) and records are protected against unauthorized use (e.g., for reproduction). The argument that a moratorium is needed to ensure adequate oversight is specious. 5.
• A moratorium is a thinly veiled attempt at banning important research outright. Proponents of a moratorium know how difficult it is to lift one ? that is why they are proposing it. 6.
• A moratorium isn?t necessary. SCNT/human therapeutic cloning research has been studied and endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences.

*Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer