A Bill that aims to impose a total ban on human cloning is to be debated in the United States Congress. Republican politicians, who view human cloning as both morally indefensible and medically risky, are sponsoring the measure. If they are successful, a ban that already exists in five American states will be extended to the whole country.
The Bill, which was introduced by Republicans Sam Brownback of Oklahoma and Dave Weldon of Florida, was in line with previous congressional promises to ban human cloning. Mr Brownback told a news conference that Americans were concerned about plans by some groups to clone human beings, using the same techniques that produced the sheep clone Dolly. "We believe, and many Americans share this belief, that efforts to create human beings by cloning mark a new and decisive step toward turning human reproduction into a manufacturing process in which children are made in laboratories to preordained specifications," Brownback said.
"I think this process displays a profound disrespect for human life and it needs to be made illegal in the United States of America," Weldon said in a statement on the floor of the US House of Representatives. The White House has said that President George W. Bush opposes human cloning and is willing to work with Congress on legislation to prevent it. A Senate hearing on cloning will be chaired by Brownback on May 2.
