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Family Research Council Statement
November 26, 2001
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Sunday, a new attack on the family emerged in the midst of
America's family holiday. The peace of a Thanksgiving weekend was shattered by
news that a Massachusetts biotechnology firm had created the world's first human
embryos by cloning. Today, there was an immediate response as Family Research
Council President Ken Connor joined Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and
representatives from the Americans to Ban Cloning coalition at a Capitol Hill
press conference. Connor issued the following statement, calling for a vote in
the Senate before the end of the year to ban the cloning of human beings.
"Under the cover of war abroad, and terror threats at home, American
experimenters in American labs have launched a whole new threat to innocent
human life," Connor said. "Cloning a human being with the express intent of
scavenging its precious parts is an assault on everything this nation stands
for.
"Cloning not only violates the dignity and rights of a human being, who should
not be manufactured, nor expected to be the 'duplicate of another,' it's an
attack on the family. It blows apart the notion of family relationships (for
example, who is the father of a cloned woman? Is her clone her daughter or her
sister?). It also introduces serious legal questions, for example, involving
inheritance and custody rights.
"A ban on cloning humans passed the House handily last July (262-162). President
Bush strongly supports the ban and said today, 'We should not, as a society,
grow life to destroy it, and that's exactly what is taking place." What is
needed now is fast, firm action in the Senate to pass the House bill, which bans
human cloning for both experimentation and implantation purposes. We applaud
Sen. Sam Brownback for his leadership to ban human cloning and to promote
cutting edge, responsible research. The passage of wartime measures shows just
how fast the legislative process can work when the nation sees a mortal threat
to American lives and American liberty. A Senate version of the House bill must
be passed by the end of the year."
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