House Passes Comprehensive Cloning Ban (Again)

Cambodia bans evangelism, a new head for the worldwide Anglican church, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Christianity Today February 1, 2003

House bans all human cloning For the second year in a row, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a ban on all forms of human cloning.

“We cannot afford to treat the issue of human embryo cloning lightly,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich, one of the bill’s cosponsors. “The human race is not open to experimentation at any level, even the molecular level.”

Though the bill passed in a 241-155 vote (see how your representative voted here), it did so by a slightly smaller margin than last year‘s 265-162 vote for a very similar bill, which stalled in the Senate.

Reports today say the new bill faces “an uncertain future” in the Senate.

“Proponents in the Senate have conceded they do not have the 60 votes necessary to end debate and force a vote on the bill,” the Associated Press reports. “It also is unclear how aggressively Majority Leader Bill Frist, a heart surgeon from Tennessee who has taken a middle ground on embryo research issues, will push the anti-cloning measure.”

The vote came after an alternative bill, which would have banned reproductive human cloning but allowed the procedure for research, was defeated in a 231-174 vote. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., said that allowing research cloning “would license the most ghoulish and dangerous enterprise in human history.”

President Bush welcomed the House’s vote and called for the Senate to act quickly in passing the bill. “Like most Americans, I believe human cloning is deeply troubling, and I strongly support efforts by Congress to ban all human cloning,” he said. “We must advance the promise and cause of medical science, including through ethical stem cell research, yet we must do so in ways that respect human dignity and help build a culture of life.”

Under the bill, anyone engaged in human cloning could be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined up to $1 million.

More articles

Persecution and violence:

  • Cambodia bans Christian proselytizing | “These actions infringe on the rights of the Cambodian people,” undersecretary of state for cults and religious affairs Dok Narin said (AFP)
  • New wave of Christianity in Sri Lanka | However, many Christian congregations around the island have been the target of attacks in the recent past. Even rural churches have not been spared (The Sunday Leader, Sri Lanka, second item)
  • 20 Zimbabwe clergy members held by cops | The clerics, dressed in suits and carrying three wooden crosses, were picked up just a few meters away from the entrance to the police general headquarters where they planned to seek an apology for the arrest of one of their colleagues two weeks ago at a church in Harare (AFP)
  • U.S. should seek UN action on Iranian religious persecution | A group of human rights activists is calling on the United States to highlight Iran’s crackdown on religious minorities at next month’s meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. (Voice of America)

New Archbishop of Canterbury enthroned:

Pop culture:

  • Dixie’s defenders fire off uncivil words | The films that are most vociferously defended after they receive a bad review are those that are pitched to people who mostly stay at home because they disapprove of the violence and profanity found in many modern movies. (John Beifuss, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis)
  • Mission possible | Audio Adrenaline wants fans to share their faith with everyone they know. (The Wichita Eagle)

Life ethics:

  • Abortion foes plan offensive | Abortion opponents, emboldened by changes on the national front, plan to introduce legislation today that would place new limits on abortions in Washington, including a 24-hour waiting period and an end to public funding (The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.)

War with Iraq:

Church life:

Marriage and sexual ethics:

Church state:

Interfaith relations and other religions:

Clergy sex abuse:

Missions and ministries:

Other stories of interest:

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