Human Cloning Legalization Bill Introduced by Senators Feinstein and Hatch

Once again it is “pull the wool over their eyes” time in the United States Senate. My senator, Diane Feinstein (D-CA), and Utah’s Orin Hatch (R-UT) have introduced the dishonestly named “Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2007” (S. 812).

Is it any wonder that the American people have such little respect for the legislative process? The bill purports to outlaw human cloning. Instead, it would explicitly legalize human somatic cell nuclear transfer—which is the actual act of cloning, a.k.a., asexual reproduction. So how do the senators justify calling their cloning legalization bill a cloning “ban?” Why, through the tried and true method, of course: They simply Redefine the term cloning into a scientifically inaccurate political term.

Here is how “human cloning” is defined in S. 812:

The term `human cloning’ means implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear transplantation into a uterus or the functional equivalent of a uterus.

But implantation is no more an act of cloning then is the implanting of an embryo created via IVF an act of fertilization. This bill is beyond disingenuous: It is dishonest.