Jill Stanek
In an otherwise good piece condemning President Obama for his executive order authorizing taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell research last week, columnist Charles Krauthammer got one thing wrong:
Obama's address was morally unserious in the extreme. ... Yet ... he went on to declare that he would never open the door to the "use of cloning for human reproduction."
Does he not think that a cloned human would be of extraordinary scientific interest? And yet he banned it.
On the contrary, Obama did not. Here is what he said:
... And we will ensure that our government never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction. It is dangerous, profoundly wrong and has no place in our society, or any society.
Had Obama meant he blanketly opposed cloning, he would have said he opposed cloning, period. But he added that tag, "for human reproduction."
I know Obama was parsing. While he says he opposes birthing human clones, Obama supports growing human clones to kill for research.
I know because I was in Springfield lobbying for the opposition in 2003 when Obama as Illinois state senator sponsored the Stem Cell Research Act along with five other hard-left liberals, and it included authorization to experimentally clone and kill.
Bearing in mind "somatic cell nuclear transfer" is scientific terminology for "cloning," here is what the Stem Cell Research Act stated:
... [R]esearch involving ... human embryonic stem cells ... and ... somatic cell nuclear transplantation, shall be permitted. ...
The Act made cloning a felony, but here was the final version's (Amendment 7) definition of "cloning":
As used in this Section, "cloning of a human being" means asexual human reproduction by implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear transplantation into a woman's uterus or a substitute for a woman's uterus. Nothing in this Section prohibits somatic nuclear transfer or transplantation.
This was the equivalent of stating, "Creating and implanting cloned human beings in uteruses is unacceptable, but creating and experimenting on cloned homo sapiens in petri dishes is fine."
(As an aside, the Act also authorized "reimbursement" for "cadaveric fetal tissue for research purposes," or aborted babies.)
Obama understands human cloning is vital if his touted embryo research stands any chance of success. Embryos as distinct human beings would rarely match donor to patient for organ and tissue transplants. Only clones would.
So watch for the National Institutes of Health, which Obama instructed to promulgate rules, to authorize taxpayer funding of "somatic cell nuclear transfer" and for U.S. citizens to subsequently fund human cloning for research.
All this while Obama takes a cue from his Democrat predecessor and denies what is is – a cloned word, I note.
Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: WorldNetDaily
Source URL: http://www.wnd.com
Publish Date: March 18, 2009
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