[Vision2020] Re: Cloning

[Saundra Lund]

Mr. Hansen <thansen@moscow.com> wrote:
"I agree with you 100% that providing a cloned child to a couple that is
incapable of producing a child on their own is a win-win situation, both
for
the child and the parents."

I've not kept up with more current legal developments, but this is from
a 2/2003 Washington Post article about Dolly's (the sheep) death:
"Dolly, the friendly but spoiled sheep whose birth by cloning
revolutionized the world's understanding of molecular biology, was put
to death yesterday after developing a severe lung problem. She was 6,
only middle-aged for a sheep, and her death raised fresh questions about
the safety of cloning techniques . . . She contracted arthritis last
year, at a young age for a sheep, though it was never clear whether this
was from too much picture-posing or from the circumstances of her birth.
Dolly suffered other maladies that may, or may not, have been a
consequence of her origin . . . ***Many countries have since banned
human reproductive cloning, while generally permitting cloning research
on microscopic human cells.*** Cloning a sick person's cells might be
one way to create tissues that could replace ailing kidneys, livers or
other organs. The United States has passed no law, as Congress
deadlocked between a camp that wants to ban only reproductive cloning
and another that wants to ban research cloning, as well. Fringe groups
have claimed success at cloning people but have produced no evidence."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentI
d=A10048-2003Feb14&notFound=true
OR
http://tinyurl.com/o21z

[Note:  emphasis is mine.  SL]

I've read other articles that talk about very valid reasons (scientific,
philosophical, medical, etc) for banning the cloning of humans, which I
tend to agree with.  The AMA supports cellular cloning research and
opposes cloning to produce/create humans.  President Bush, of course,
supports banning all forms of cloning.


Saundra Lund
Moscow, Idaho

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to
do nothing.
Edmund Burke