PUBLIC STATEMENTS

Reaction from Culture of Life Foundation to Advanced Cell Technology's Human Cloning Announcement of November 25, 2001

The announcement over the weekend that a company in Worcester, Massachusetts, has apparently cloned human embryos is very disturbing if not surprising news.  During the debate earlier this year over Federal funding of stem cell research, it was clear that new abuses of human life were waiting in the wings.  Culture of Life Foundation raised serious concerns at the time not only about the unethical and immoral basis of embryonic stem cell research, but that such research would lead to the cloning of human embryos to be sources of stem cells.

The embryos created in this process reportedly died before stem cells could be harvested. But the intention is clear: to create, through cloning, human embryos with the full genetic and chromosomal makeup of a human being, and then kill those embryos in the process of deriving stem cells from them. In other words, corporations will be farming human life for spare parts.

Those responsible for this latest offense against human dignity assert that their goal is better healthcare through using stem cells derived from embryos. But in reality, the stem cells that are helping human patients today are adult stem cells, not stem cells from embryos. If these cloners of human embryos want to help sick people instead of garnering headlines, they ought to invest time and money in adult stem cell therapies.

The Culture of Life Foundation strongly supports President Bush and lawmakers of both parties who want to enact a ban on human cloning for any purpose.  The strictures of scientific and academic ethics are obviously not going to prevent human cloning: law is required.  When we consider the effect of human cloning on all our human relationships, it is essential that we stop it in its tracks.