Editorial: A measured response to claims of cloning

Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003 | 8:28 a.m.

Last week Clonaid, a company with ties to a religious sect that believes extraterrestrials created people, announced that it had cloned the first human. Most scientific experts are dubious of the claim. If this turns out to be a hoax, it may be of little consolation, though. Most experts believe that one day soon a human clone will be produced.

Reproductive cloning is nothing more than a ghastly medical experiment. Cloning of animals rarely is successful, sometimes resulting in disfigurement and often ending in a miscarriage. This purported cloning allegedly took place outside the United States, but many members of Congress still want to pass a law banning cloning. While a U.S. cloning ban couldn't prevent offshore attempts, such a law should be passed to prevent reproductive cloning here.

But Congress should not rush to ban the cloning of embryos that is done for stem-cell research, which many scientists believe could one day provide cures for a variety of diseases and illnesses, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes. Even some anti-abortion advocates believe that cloning, done strictly for stem-cell research, should be permitted. Congress shouldn't overreact to Clonaid's announcement and permanently shut the door on cloning for stem-cell research, whose ethics still are being debated.