US House of Representatives Votes to Ban Human Cloning
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Posted on Aug 31, 2003, 11 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
US scientists are reeling after the US House of Representatives voted to ban all forms of human cloning. If enacted, The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 will impose a complete ban on human cloning, whether to create a pregnancy or for medical research. The Act would also make it a crime to "receive or import a cloned human embryo or any product derived from a cloned human embryo.
US scientists are reeling after the US House of Representatives voted to ban all forms of human cloning. If enacted, The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 will impose a complete ban on human cloning, whether to create a pregnancy or for medical research. The Act would also make it a crime to "receive or import a cloned human embryo or any product derived from a cloned human embryo." Offenders would face a fine of $1 million and 10 years in prison. In theory, this means that US citizens seeking embryonic stem cell research-based treatments abroad could face criminal charges when they return home. The bill now moves to the Senate, which failed to make a decision on a similar bill back in 2001, however the new Senate majority leader, Tennessee Republican Bill Frist, has said he supports a ban on all cloning, including therapeutic cloning. Michael Werner, vice president for bioethics at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, an industry group, described the "draconian legislation" as "overkill."
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 28th February 2003
