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Legislature Votes to Ban
Funding for Human Cloning; MCCL Succeeds in
Helping to Outlaw Taxpayer Funding of Cloning
Part Three of Three
Editor’s note. The following
explanation was provided by Minnesota Citizens
Concerned for Life (MCCL), NRLC’s Minnesota
affiliate. April
22--MCCL today gave high marks to the Minnesota
House and Senate for banning public funding of
human cloning. The House
today voted 71-60 to pass an amendment virtually
identical to the Senate’s April 17 voice vote to
outlaw taxpayer funding of human cloning.
“The Legislature has wisely ruled
it unconscionable to fund the cloning of human
life,” said MCCL Executive Director Scott
Fischbach. “MCCL is pleased that state lawmakers
have established a clear ethical boundary which
upholds the integrity of the human embryo and
opposes the commodification of the human body.”
Human cloning is a technique that
combines an enucleated egg (nucleus removed) and
the nucleus of a somatic cell to make a human
being in the embryonic stage of development,
according to the National Institutes of Health.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT, is the
scientific term for cloning. SCNT can be used
for therapeutic or reproductive purposes, but
the initial stage that combines an enucleated
egg and a somatic cell’s nucleus is the same.
Human cloning promises a means of large-scale
production of human embryos for experiments,
conjuring up gruesome images of embryo farming
to manufacture and supply laboratories with raw
human material.
Laboratories around the world are in competition
to be the first to successfully clone a human
being. The University of Minnesota’s Stem Cell
Institute is believed to be pursuing human
cloning for research purposes.
The Legislature’s ban on funding
for human cloning was passed as an amendment to
a higher education funding bill, S.F. 2083, in
both chambers. The legislation prohibits the
University of Minnesota from using taxpayer
dollars to pursue human cloning.
The ban on public funding of
human cloning moves the state closer to an
all-out ban on all human cloning.
“Human life must be treated with dignity, not as
mere raw material for experimentation,”
Fischbach said. “MCCL applauds the Legislature’s
move toward protecting life from replication,
manipulation and devaluation.”
Please send comments on any or
all parts to
daveandrusko@gmail.com.
Part One
Part Two |
