From: Jacques Du Pasquier (jacques@dtext.com)
Date: Thu Jan 31 2002 - 05:31:57 MST
The national parliament has just voted a law that forbids both
reproductive (20 years emprisonment) and therapeutic human cloning.
There was no public debate whatsoever (there was some media talk, but
there was no debate, with contradictory opinions, etc., because there
is no public interest). The law project still needs (so to speak) to
be approved by the "conseil constitutionnel" in late February. That
was Jacques, reporting from France. (Thanks, Jacques.)
On the other hand, I guess that if research on animal, and research on
humans led in other countries, keep making progress, the opportunities
to French humans will become more concrete to said French humans, and
then they can think twice about it.
They just ban it so that they don't have to think about it, then wait
for other people to make experiences, so that they can take a more
informed decision in the future. If that was everyone's way, we'd be
frozen.
I reflected the other day that maybe the French society can work the
way it works ONLY because the American society is more libertarian :
thus more innovation occurs in the States, which is then adopted in
France without the R&D costs nor the social costs, which allows for
prosperity and redistribution without the need to pay the cost.
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