 |
 |
Senate Cloning Bill Faces New Setbacks Last Updated: June 13, 2002 03:59 PM ET Print This Article By Joanne Kenen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The anticipated emotional debate on human cloning is on indefinite hold in the Senate, increasing the likelihood that there will be no new laws this year limiting U.S. scientists' ability to pursue uncharted and often controversial waters. The Senate debate is stuck in one of those procedural bogs that often cloak policy struggles, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, told reporters on Thursday the odds of a debate this year had been "substantially, substantially" reduced. Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican who is the lead sponsor of the most sweeping anti-cloning bill, rejected Daschle's debate rules this week saying they were "stacked" against him. Instead he said Thursday he hopes to force the issue "sooner rather than later" by bringing up his bill or pieces of it as amendments to unrelated legislation. President Bush has strongly and repeatedly urged the Senate to pass a ban on all forms of human cloning. The House has already done so. But without Senate action, no law can go into effect this year at a time when some scientists are already deep into cloning research and a few are even predicting that a birth could be imminent. But the Senate is split. Everybody wants to ban reproductive cloning -- an attempt to clone a human embryo, implant it in a woman's womb and create a cloned human baby. Daschle said a straightforward vote to ban such baby-making efforts could pass "100 to nothing today." The schism comes on so-called therapeutic cloning, in which scientists try to create a cloned embryo and extract its stem cells for promising medical research into numerous killer diseases. The embryo is destroyed in that process. The legislation by Brownback and Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu would outlaw or at least impose a two-year moratorium on both reproductive and therapeutic cloning. They believe that it is immoral to create human embryos for research and then destroy them. RIVAL LEGISLATION The rival legislation, sponsored by Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein and others, would ban the reproductive baby-making cloning but permit the "therapeutic" form, also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. They say the therapeutic techniques hold out hope for treatments of many diseases, including diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer's, and must be allowed to proceed. Daschle said the debate rules he offered Wednesday stands but that he was not making another overture to Brownback. "I feel like I fulfilled my obligation. I don't have any further designs, further plans to bring the bill back," he said. Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican whose job often puts him at odds with Daschle, agreed that Daschle "fulfilled his commitment." Lott did not embrace Brownback's tactic of offering cloning measures as amendments, but noted that senators have a right to pursue such a strategy. Brownback said he was willing to offer a two-year moratorium instead of a ban in an effort to break the impasse but ended up antagonizing some allies while failing to win over his foes. While some anti-abortion rights groups including the National Right to Life Committee say they will accept the moratorium proposal as a compromise step in the right direction, others have rejected it as too weak. Similarly major research and patient coalitions have rejected it. "A moratorium would mean that important medical breakthroughs are put on hold. People suffering from life-threatening diseases and conditions are told they will just have to wait for their cures," said Michael Manganiello, president of Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research. Tom Berdine Founder; YoungParkinsons.com www.youngparkinsons.com State Coordinator, New Mexico Parkinson's Action Network www.parkinsonsaction.org/ President, Young Onset Parkinson's Association (YOPA) http://www.roundisfunny.com/test/pdhood.html --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.370 / Virus Database: 205 - Release Date: 6/5/2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn