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The President's Council on Bioethics recommended a complete ban on human cloning for reproduction but, in a 10-7 split, only a four-year moratorium on cloning for research purposes. Conservatives are disappointed by the July decision.

"The recommended moratorium is only a stopgap measure and does not guarantee that human embryos created by cloning will be protected," said Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family.

"It is regrettable that the council could not support the view that human cloning involves the creation and destruction of innocent human life," says Ken Connor, president of the Family Research Council.

Bioethicist Nigel M. de S. Cameron of the Wilberforce Forum takes a more optimistic view. He told Christianity Today that the report establishes the panel's credibility as not being a tool of the political right.

"The glass is certainly half full," Cameron said.

"I'm very positive about the report, and hope that Congress moves immediately at least to pass a four-year moratorium on both forms of cloning."

In January President Bush named 18 members from various fields to the advisory panel. A White House statement calls on the Senate to "take action this year to ban all human cloning." The House passed a complete ban last year.

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The council on bioethics' full report, including an 11-page executive summary, is available at the council's website.)

News coverage includes:

Cloning edict angers both sides—San Francisco Chronicle (July 12, 2002)

Temporary ban advised for cloning of humans—The Washington Times (July 12, 2002)

Bush panel has 2 views on embryonic cloning—The Washington Post (July 11, 2002)

Panel recommends a moratorium on cloning research—The New York Times (July 10, 2001)

A White House statement to the report called for Senate to "take action this year to ban all human cloning. As the Council's majority recommendation makes clear, no law should be enacted this year that authorizes any human cloning."

Concerned Women for America argues that "this decision leaves the American people vulnerable; a moratorium on a dangerous act is not enough," she said.

Family Research Council president Ken Connor said: "In an environment where that which is not prohibited is permitted, a temporary moratorium on human cloning is better than no ban at all. However … in the final analysis, it's lamentable that a majority of this commission, with all of its intellectual horsepower, was unable to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil."

Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family said: "The recommended moratorium is only a stopgap measure and does not guarantee that human embryos created by cloning will be protected. … Hopefully, this report will serve as a speed bump to slow down the apparent rush to 'clone and kill' human embryos for their stem cells."

A Christianity Todayeditorial supported Bush's stem cell decision last year and gave "three cheers" to his choice of advisors for the Council on Bioethics: Leo Kass. In June, Nigel M. de S. Cameron interviewed Kass in CT.

Christianity Today recommended against human cloning in a 1997 editorial, "Stop Cloning Around."

For current news on cloning, see Yahoo full coverage. Christianity Today's Life Ethics archive and sister publication Books & Culture's Science Pages have more perspective on bioethics.

For explanations on how cloning is accomplished, see Conceiving a Clone, Science Matters, and How Cloning Works.

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September 9 2002, Vol. 46, No. 10