Cardinal Keeler Urges Support
for Human
Cloning Prohibition Act
WASHINGTON (May 22, 2001) -- Cardinal William H. Keeler has
urged all members of Congress to support the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of
2001 (S. 790, H.R. 1644). This legislation would prohibit use of the cloning
technique used to make Dolly the sheep to produce a living organism of the
human species.
Cardinal Keeler said this bill has been endorsed by
concerned religious groups with divergent views on abortion, such as the
Catholic bishops' conference and the General Board on Church and Society of
The United Methodist Church. He termed it "the most carefully crafted and
widely supported bill to be introduced on this issue."
The Cardinal
noted, for example, that any use of cloning techniques to produce DNA, cells
other than human embryos, tissues, plants or animals other than humans is
explicitly excluded from the scope of the bill. The bill also encourages
further study by a government advisory commission to assess any impact of the
ban on medical research and any future need to revise its definition of
cloning in light of new developments.
Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of
Baltimore, is Chairman of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops'
Committee for Pro-Life Activities. He wrote to all members of Congress May 21.
The Cardinal also took issue with another kind of bill that is being
proposed which would not ban human cloning, but prohibit implanting cloned
human embryos in a womb for purposes of live birth. "Such a selective ban
would define a class of new human beings that it is a crime not to destroy,"
Cardinal Keeler said. "It would also set the stage for ‘reproductive' cloning
in the
future, by giving a green light to the wasteful and destructive
embryo experiments needed to refine the cloning process." He cited the
Conference's May 2 testimony before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on
Science, Technology and Space to show that this approach would be morally,
legally and practically defective.
The Human Cloning Prohibition Act
of 2001 was introduced by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Rep. Dave Weldon
(R-FL).
Full
Written Testimony
NCCB fact
sheets on human
cloning
__________________________________
Office of Communications
National Conference of
Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference
3211 4th Street, N.E.,
Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000
June
03, 2003 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops