IN WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT CLINTON IS DIRECTING THAT NO FEDERAL FUNDS BE USED TO CLONE HUMAN BEINGS. AND HE IS CALLING ON PRIVATE RESEARCHERS AND SCIENTISTS TO VOLUNTARILY STOP ALL EFFORTS TO CLONE HUMANS UNTIL THE NATIONAL BIOETHICS ADVISORY COMMISSION HAS REVIEWED THE ISSUE.04-Mar-97PRESIDENT CLINTON BELIEVES THE CLONING OF SHEEP IN SCOTLAND AND MONKEYS IN THE UNITED STATES COULD YIELD ENORMOUS BENEFITS ON A WIDE VARIETY OF FRONTS. BUT FOR NOW, UNTIL HIS ADVISORY COMMISSION REVIEWS THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS AND OFFERS RECOMMENDATIONS, HE IS RULING OUT THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR CLONING EXPERIMENTS ON HUMANS, AND ASKING THE PRIVATE RESEARCH COMMUNITY TO STOP SIMILAR WORK, TOO.
LIKE THE SPLITTING OF THE ATOM, THIS IS A DISCOVERY THAT CARRIES BURDENS AS WELL AS BENEFITS. SCIENCE OFTEN MOVES FASTER THAN OUR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND ITS IMPLICATIONS. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO MOVE WITH CAUTION AND CARE TO HARNESS THE POWERFUL FORCES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SO THAT WE CAN REAP THE BENEFIT WHILE MINIMIZING THE POTENTIAL DANGER.
ON FEBRUARY TWENTY-FOURTH, THE PRESIDENT ASKED THE BIOETHICS COMMISSION TO REVIEW THE ISSUE AND OFFER RECOMMENDATIONS TO HIM WITHIN NINETY DAYS.
AS FOR HIS PERSONAL VIEW, HE TOLD REPORTERS DURING A BRIEF WHITE HOUSE SESSION THE POSSIBILITY OF HUMAN CLONING WOULD HAVE TO RAISE DEEP CONCERNS.
THIS NEW DISCOVERY RAISES THE TROUBLING PROSPECT THAT IT MIGHT SOME DAY BE POSSIBLE TO CLONE HUMAN BEINGS FROM OUR OWN GENETIC MATERIAL. THERE IS MUCH ABOUT CLONING THAT WE STILL DO NOT KNOW, BUT THIS MUCH WE DO KNOW-- ANY DISCOVERY THAT TOUCHES UPON HUMAN CREATION IS NOT SIMPLY A MATTER OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY, IT IS A MATTER OF MORALITY AND SPIRITUALITY AS WELL.
THE PRESIDENT TOOK THE ACTION BECAUSE CURRENT RESTRICTIONS DO NOT EXPLICITLY COVER HUMAN EMBRYOS CREATED BY CLONING FOR IMPLANTATION. AND THEY DO NOT COVER ALL FEDERAL AGENCIES OR THE WORK OF PRIVATELY-FUNDED SCIENTISTS.