The following op/ed by ex-President Gerald Ford appeared in yesterday's
Washington Post .
The Post also reported yesterday that Senators Feinstein, Kennedy,
Specter and Hatch are adding detailed
rules governing cloning research to their bill - S.2439 - which bans
reproductive cloning, but protects therapeutic cloning research. The
revised bill " could be ready for a floor debate and vote within one to
two weeks. ... The new language spells out in unprecedented detail what
scientists would --
and would not -- be allowed to do in the controversial field of human
embryo
cloning research. "
--------------------------------
FROM:
The Washington Post
June 05, 2002, Wednesday, Final Edition
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A23
HEADLINE: Curing, Not Cloning
BYLINE: Gerald Ford
" It is a troubling paradox of American politics: All too often the
issues that
most cry out for thoughtful, dispassionate consideration are reduced to
sound
bites. Further distorted in the name of ideology or partisanship, they
can
become oversimplified to the point of caricature. The public -- and
public
policy -- suffer, if only because there are some phrases virtually
guaranteed to
polarize any debate before it gets started.
Affirmative action. Reproductive rights. Gay rights. Now you can add
cloning
to the list. For many, the word conjures up sinister images of mad
scientists
laying claim to God-like powers. From there it is a short step toward a
soulless
state, wherein assembly-line man is robbed of his individuality by
science run
amok. It's hard to imagine a more frightening scenario.
But is it real? Growing up in Grand Rapids, Mich., I was taught to
put my
faith in God, not government, and never to confuse the two. On the verge
of my
89th birthday, I am not likely to change this view.
That's why I share the concerns of many about reproductive cloning,
which in
theory, at least, could lead to Dr. Frankenstein's vision of
laboratory-manufactured humans. To me this is a perversion of science.
Legislation has been introduced that would outlaw the cloning of human
beings.
At the same time, this legislation would allow continued research
into
therapeutic cloning -- more precisely known as somatic cell nuclear
transfer, or
nuclear transportation -- a very different branch of science that holds
limitless potential to improve or extend life for 130 million Americans
now
suffering from some chronic or debilitating condition.
The anguish of these people is multiplied by the number of family
members
struggling to care for victims of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's
and
Parkinson's, spinal cord injury and a vast array of other ailments. For
every
Ronald Reagan, cruelly deprived of the knowledge of his pivotal place in
our
history, there are millions of elderly, and not so elderly, citizens who
will
never get their names in the history books, although they are similarly
imprisoned in memory's darkened rooms. They deserve more than our
sympathy. They
deserve the finest treatment imaginable by the world's best scientists.
Unfortunately, they may not get it. In stark contrast to the Human
Cloning
Prohibition Act sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter, Dianne Feinstein, Orrin
Hatch
and Edward M. Kennedy, other members of Congress in both houses are
trying to
legislate an absolute ban on all cloning, therapeutic as well as
reproductive.
Under terms of the Brownback-Landrieu bill in the Senate, and its
House
counterpart, H.R. 2505, promising regenerative therapies would be
criminalized.
This is not locking the lid on Pandora's box. It is slamming the door to
lifesaving cures and treatments merely because they are new.
No fewer than 40 Nobel laureates have warned that such legislation
"would
foreclose the legitimate use of nuclear transplantation . . . and impede
progress against some of the most debilitating diseases known to man."
Nor would it end there. Long in the vanguard of scientific discovery,
American scientists and public policymakers have done much to shape sound
scientific policies throughout the world. To walk away from the advances
already
achieved through therapeutic cloning is to surrender this leadership. It
is to
turn our back on the worldwide debate over harnessing, controlling and
sharing
these powerful new discoveries. It is to reject much of our history and
still
more of our future.
This is not an either/or question. It is a false choice that says we
can
have medical breakthroughs or we can safeguard human individuality -- but
we
can't do both. No one knows this better than the scientific researcher.
The
frontiers of knowledge are often lonely and sometimes uncivilized.
Government
has a mandate to police these regions and to guard against unethical or
exploitative conduct, without suffocating the instinct for exploration
and
self-improvement that defines the human race.
Notwithstanding the efforts of some scientists, men are not to be
confused
with sheep. So what is it that sets us apart? Among other things, it is
our
capacity for faith -- complemented by our God-given curiosity, our
dissatisfaction with limits and our stubborn refusal to acquiesce in
early death
or to suffer passively through debilitating illnesses thinly disguised as
life.
Fortunately, we have recent precedent to help guide us through the
forest of
scientific and political uncertainty. During my presidency, similar
questions
were raised about research into recombinant DNA. After careful
deliberation,
safeguards were devised to ensure that this promising new line of inquiry
would
be closely monitored. It was a measured response to a sensitive issue,
and it
has resulted in advances that were unimaginable in the 1970s.
A quarter-century later, would anyone turn back the clock? Would
anyone
discard vaccines traceable to recombinant DNA research? Would they
dismiss the
promising new strategies to prevent or combat AIDS, diabetes and cancer?
Bills have already been put forward that ban human cloning and
provide stiff
penalties for it, while allowing continued research into the promise of
nuclear
transfer research. I call on Congress to pick up the mantle of leadership
on
this important issue and craft a compromise solution that works.
Gerald Ford was the 38th president of the United States.
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