Odd Mix of Activists Stands Together against Cloning
By Richard Willing,
USA Today
| 07. 16. 2001
Coalition Supports Bill That Could Mean Fines, Prison Time for Scientists Involved in Practice
WASHINGTON--Activists on both sides of the abortion issue are joining
forces this week to push for a total ban on human cloning.
The unusual coalition is lobbying for a bill that would impose a
10-year prison sentence and $1 million fine on scientists who practice
cloning for reproduction or research.
That bill's chief sponsor is Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., who opposes
abortion. The measure is expected to be taken up as early as Thursday
and move swiftly through the House Judiciary Committee.
A rival bill that would ban cloning to create human babies but permit
cloning for research use has attracted less support. Its sponsor,
Rep. James Greenwood, R-Pa., says the two bills seem destined to collide.
Cloning works by placing the nucleus of an adult cell into an egg
cell from which the center has been removed, producing an embryo that
is a genetic copy of the adult.
Cloning has been attempted with other mammals. In 1997, a cloned
baby sheep was produced in Scotland from a cell taken from an adult
animal. It was delivered by a surrogate...
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