Bush Panel Unanimous in Opposition
to Reproductive Cloning; Split on Therapeutic Cloning
July 12, 2002 - The Council on Bioethics, appointed
by President Bush as part of his stem cell research funding
decision last August, and chaired by Leon Kass, M.D., Ph.D.,
issued its cloning
report on July 11. The 18-member panel is unanimous in
its opposition to reproductive cloning, but split on somatic
cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) research (or therapeutic cloning).
Given the previously published statements of the panel members,
it was expected that the panel would overwhelmingly advise
making SCNT research illegal. However, in a surprising development,
the panel could muster only 10 votes in favor of a four-year
moratorium on such research. Seven members of the panel recommended
allowing SCNT research to go forward and one member abstained
from making any recommendation. There is no legislation pending
in Congress to impose a moratorium on SCNT research.
Specifically, ten members of the Council recommend "a
ban on cloning-to-produce-children combined with a four-year
moratorium on cloning-for-biomedical-research. We also call
for a federal review of current and projected practices of
human embryo research, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis,
genetic modification of human embryos and gametes, and related
matters, with a view to recommending and shaping ethically
sound policies for the entire field." This position is
supported by Council Members Rebecca S. Dresser, Francis Fukuyama,
Robert P. George, Mary Ann Glendon, Alfonso Gómez-Lobo,
William B. Hurlbut, Leon R. Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Paul
McHugh, and Gilbert C. Meilaender.
Seven members of the panel recommend, "a ban on cloning-to-produce-children,
with regulation of the use of cloned embryos for biomedical
research." This position is supported by Council Members
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Daniel W. Foster, Michael S. Gazzaniga,
William F. May, Janet D. Rowley, Michael J. Sandel, and James
Q. Wilson. Council Member Stephen L. Carter abstained from
making any recommendation.
The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR),
of which AAMC is a member, criticized both the make-up of
the panel and the report. No patients were included on the
panel. Michael Manganiello, president of CAMR, said, "Unfortunately,
the Council has chosen to join the opponents of therapeutic
cloning who are calling for a moratorium. A moratorium stigmatizes
vital research and is extremely hard to lift. Most importantly,
it puts on hold medical breakthroughs that seriously ill people
must have access to."
On Friday, July 12, Dr. Maxine Singer, president of the Carnegie
Institution, will present the Council on Bioethics with a
petition against a moratorium and a ban on SCNT. Over 2,000
medical schools and university science department faculty
members signed the petition. "The petition signals that
a large group of informed medical and scientific opinion in
this country does not agree with the Council's call for a
moratorium," said Dr. Singer. "This group's opposition
to criminalizing therapeutic cloning and imposing a moratorium
on it is consistent with the recommendations of the report
Human Reproductive Cloning prepared by a distinguished panel
of the National Academies earlier this year. The petition
amounts to an urgent request to allow this promising research
to go forward in the interest of millions who are afflicted
with severe childhood and adult illnesses."
Tony Mazzaschi, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
tmazzaschi@aamc.org
(202) 828-0059
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