From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Fri Nov 08 2002 - 09:06:59 MST
Well, it looks like the crafty Republicans are up to their old
tricks again. Since they can't get a ban on cloning through the
Senate, they are trying to do it via the U.N.
See:
U.S., Pushing for Broader Ban, Blocks U.N. Anti-Cloning Move
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/08/international/08CLON.html?pagewanted=print
Seems Germany and France are pushing for a ban on reproductive cloning
(which is fine by me at this point) and the U.S. is pushing back seeking
a total ban on cloning.
I don't see the point (other than if its pure politics). If they can't get
a U.S. ban through the Senate now -- how can they expect to get the Senate
to approve a U.N. Treaty on a total ban? Perhaps they think generally
uninformed international opinion will sway some votes???
Worth noting is the downsides of this which seem to be at least
(a) No cloning of bodies for cryonically suspended heads;
(b) No migration into space (i.e. we are imprisoned on Earth)
because you couldn't enforce a ban on cloning activities in
some remote part of the solar system; and (c) greater difficulty
developing the methods to grow replacement organs from stem cells.
Robert
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