Letter Endorsing Hatch Cloning
Bill
January
15, 2003
The Honorable Orrin Hatch
United States Senate
104 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Hatch:
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) strongly
endorses the Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection
Act of 2003, sponsored by you and Senators Dianne Feinstein,
Arlen Specter, Edward Kennedy, and Tom Harkin.
The AAMC joins with you in strongly opposing human reproductive
cloning. To expose any person to the known risks and uncertainties
involved in reproductive cloning would be unethical and unconscionable.
However, it is important to recognize, as your bill does,
the difference between reproductive cloning and the scientific
potential of therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine.
Your bill will allow this potentially life-saving research
to move forward.
We recognize the significant ethical issues that are raised
about embryonic stem cell research and we respect the view
of those who oppose such research, including some in our own
medical school community. However, we are persuaded otherwise
by what we believe is an equally compelling ethical consideration,
namely, the unique potential afforded by embryonic stem cells,
to alleviate human suffering and enhance the quality of human
life.
The current opportunities in medical research are unparalleled
in our nation's history. Among the brightest opportunities
in medical research is the further study and application of
both adult and embryonic stem cell technologies. The production
of stem cells by nuclear transplantation may yet prove the
most powerful and widely beneficial of all. However, we will
never see the fulfillment of any of this promise if we choose
to take the perilous and unprecedented path of banning through
legislation research on nuclear transplantation to produce
stem cells. We applaud your courageous leadership in support
of medical research to improve the health of the American
people.
We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.
|
