The Pro-Life Case for
Cloning
EDITORIAL, NYTimes on the Web, May 2, 2002
Senator
Orrin Hatch, a conservative Republican and longstanding opponent of abortion,
jolted social and religious conservatives this week when he came out strongly in
favor of therapeutic cloning. The Utah Republican offered a way of thinking
about this divisive issue that could prove far more persuasive with wavering
senators than the cramped policy championed by President Bush. Mr. Bush favors a
ban on all human cloning, whether to make a human baby or for research on
potentially lifesaving therapies.
The president opposes even research cloning because
it involves the creation of embryos that are then destroyed to obtain stem cells
for research and potential treatments. Senator Hatch, whose pro-life credentials
are every bit as strong as the president's, concluded that the tiny clusters of
cells that scientists use in laboratory experiments cannot be equated with human
life. Indeed, the senator said that once he had mastered the subject, his
decision to back therapeutic cloning, which could benefit millions of Americans
suffering from intractable diseases, "was not — and I repeat not — a close
call."
Mr. Hatch's announcement came as the Senate is
moving fitfully toward a vote on human cloning. One bill, which has passed the
House and been endorsed by President Bush, would ban all human cloning, whether
for research or reproduction. A far better bill, backed by Mr. Hatch and other
senators, would ban reproductive cloning but allow research and therapeutic
cloning to go forward. Scientists believe the research could eventually yield
treatments for such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart
disease and cancer.
In an explanation that deserves close attention,
Mr. Hatch described why he believes the tiny cell clusters that scientists work
with should not be considered human life. In therapeutic cloning, he noted,
scientists first take the genetic material from, say, the skin cell of an adult
and inject it into a female egg cell whose own genetic material has been
removed. Then they stimulate the cell electrically and it begins to divide in a
laboratory dish, enabling scientists to harvest stem cells that can be used for
research on potential therapies.
Although some right-to-lifers contend that the new
cell created in the laboratory becomes a human life at the moment it is
electrically activated, Mr. Hatch disagreed. He noted that the egg is never
fertilized with sperm, and that the embryo will not be implanted in a woman's
womb, so there is no chance of a birth. "At the core of my support for
regenerative medicine research is my belief that human life requires and begins
in a mother's nurturing womb," he said, echoing a stance he took last year in
the stem cell debate. With the Senate closely divided, Mr. Hatch's position
should give a welcome boost to the advocates of therapeutic cloning.
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