Cloning to be Legalized in New Jersey?

Opponents say 'radical' measure allows humans to be destroyed

December 17, 2003
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Called by opponents the most radical cloning bill ever, a measure passed by the New Jersey state Assembly would allow cloned human embryos to be implanted in a womb then destroyed for research use, even after nine months of growth.

The bill's sponsors argue it will be an important advance in the search for new treatments for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and other illnesses.

The measure passed Monday 41-31, with seven members abstaining, and now goes to Gov. James E. McGreevey, who has said he will sign it. The state Senate already has passed a similar version of the bill by a 26-0 vote.

Research on cells taken from embryos has been restricted by the federal government, but this measure would permit pharmaceutical companies and biomedical laboratories to grow cells from embryos discarded at fertility clinics.

In 2001, President Bush said federal funds could not be used to create new stem cells. But he allowed researchers to continue working on the 11 lines of cells in existence. Stem cells, created in the initial stage of pregnancy, can be induced to grow into various kinds of tissues. Potentially this could transform medicine, researchers say, by allowing development of new cells to treat many illnesses and injuries, such as damaged spinal cords.

Many are opposed to this, however, because the cells can be harvested only by destroying an embryo a few days after fertilization. The New Jersey bill, they argue, would allow a procedure called "somatic cell nuclear transfer," regarded by some scientists as a human cloning technique.

Before the vote, Democratic Assemblyman Neil Cohen, the bill's sponsor, told his colleagues on the floor they were about to take action to help a "significant amount of people."

"Do this for your children and your grandchildren," he urged.

Opponents, including pro-life groups and Roman Catholic leaders, contend the bill's broad wording leaves open the door for cloning of human beings.

Marie Tasy, director of New Jersey Right to Life, contends the bill goes much further than its advocates claim, noting there are legal experts who say it would allow cloning.

"These lawmakers' actions will result in the creation of a foul climate where ghoulish human experimentation and organ harvesting will be performed and human embryo and fetal farms will flourish throughout our state," Tasy said, according to LifeNews.com.

"Because the prohibited conduct of cloning a human being draws the line only at the newborn stage, abortions up to the day of delivery would be authorized under this legislation," she added.

Pro-life groups now are urging Congress to pass an all-encompassing ban on human cloning that would invalidate the New Jersey bill. California is the only other state to have passed legislation similar to New Jersey's.

Cohen insists the bill addresses its opponents concerns by specifically outlawing cloning.

"The right-to-life groups are saying that the sky is falling," he said, according to the New York Times. "But what I do know is that 40 Nobel Prize winners support this and every hospital in New Jersey supports this."

The bill received the 41 votes it needed to pass only after an emotional debate by legislators and intense lobbying on the floor, LifeNews.com noted.

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