tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post7961947398719790618..comments2007-08-11T14:16:11.601-07:00Wesley J. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087063614354714652wjs@wesleyjsmith.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post-82450232485327687142007-08-11T14:16:00.000-07:002007-08-11T14:16:00.000-07:00I should finish making that last point: since only a federal ban on cloning makes sense, there is a lot more to be happy about with A2 than there is to worry about. We need a federal egg and sperm law ASAP, and whether it allows creating embryos for stem cells or not, we hopefully agree that it should certainly ban implanting "anything other than the product of fertilization of an egg of a human female by a sperm of a human male". <I>That</I> language is the most important part of A2, and both the NYT and Wesley don't write about it.John Howardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293358301684110958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post-81229944793787378332007-08-11T14:04:00.000-07:002007-08-11T14:04:00.000-07:00I notice the NYT leaves out the part about males and females, replacing those details with "an act". For your readers, <A HREF="http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/2006petitions/ppStemCell.asp" REL="nofollow">Here is the text</A> of the bill, and here is its definition of cloning: <I>“Clone or attempt to clone a human being” means to implant in a uterus or attempt to implant in a uterus anything other than the product of fertilization of an egg of a human female by a sperm of a human male for the purpose of initiating a pregnancy that could result in the creation of a human fetus, or the birth of a human being.</I><BR/><BR/>I agree that is a terrible definition of cloning, but as far as outlawing something that really needs to be outlawed right away, it does a far better job than any of the cloning bills introduced in Congress, which do nothing to stop genetic engineering because they only ban <I>exact</I> clones (or true clones) but leave a huge loophole precisely where the eugenicists want to go by not banning modified clones. Just one token change would get them around the Hatch and Brownback bans.<BR/><BR/>also note that the Missouri amendment doesn't allow anything that Federal law prohibits, so it doesn't really create a "right to clone", just a right to do what Federal law allows, which at this moment includes cloning and also genetic engineering and also implanting and giving birth. Missouri is the only state that has restrictions on implanting GE'd embryos.John Howardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293358301684110958noreply@blogger.com