Tom Udall: “I believe that human cloning is dangerous, unethical and needs to be prohibited. The recent reports surrounding…”

“I believe that human cloning is dangerous, unethical and needs to be prohibited. The recent reports surrounding Clonaid's supposed first successful human baby cloning, though thus far unverified, provides further impetus for the need to enact a prohibition of this practice. As such, I strongly support banning the practice of reproductive cloning, which is the replication of an individual's genetic material in a new individual. However, as strong as my opposition is to the process of reproductive cloning, my support for continued stem cell research to develop cures for debilitating diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and others, is equally strong. The process of therapeutic cloning, also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, is the transplantation of a patient's own DNA into an unfertilized egg in order to grow stem cells. Therapeutic cloning does not in any way lead to the creation of viable human life. However, it does allow for continued research in the area of stem cells. Unfortunately as a result of overly broad cloning prohibition language in H.R. 534, the scientific process of therapeutic cloning is also prohibited along with reproductive cloning. Also, as my colleague Mr. Conyers has recently pointed out, H.R. 534 also bans the importation of lifesaving medicines from other countries if their production is in anyway derived from nuclear transfer. Because of these considerations, I will be voting against H.R. 534.”