David Price: “since the House last considered a ban on cloning, the National Academy of Sciences and the President's Council on…”

“since the House last considered a ban on cloning, the National Academy of Sciences and the President's Council on Bioethics have both issued reports on the ethical and social questions raised by cloning. H.R. 534 does not reflect the recommendations of either body. In moving to head off the morally unacceptable practice of cloning human beings, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that we must take great care not to limit the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer which holds considerable potential for developing new therapies and advancing biomedical knowledge. The 17 members of the President's Council on Bioethics were divided on a final policy recommendation, but even the most conservative members of the council recommended only a 4-year moratorium on therapeutic cloning, not an outright ban as the Weldon bill would mandate. There is a compelling moral case for therapeutic cloning based on our obligation to relieve human suffering and to affirm human health and life. The Greenwood substitute maintains the critical scientific and moral distinction between reproductive cloning, which we all agree should be banned, and therapeutic cloning which has tremendous potential for human benefit. Vote against H.R. 534 and for the Greenwood substitute.”