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Joint Statement |
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Joint Statement |
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BAN
CLONING NOW! As representatives of Nebraska’s pro-life and pro-family groups, and various religious denominations, we stand united and resolute in our support of the Human Cloning Prohibition Act (LB 700). The cloning of human beings for any reason is wrong and should be banned in Nebraska. Cloning dehumanizes human procreation and treats human beings as laboratory products, as nothing more than carriers of traits that others find useful. Cloning human embryos for research (so-called “therapeutic cloning”) demeans life by manufacturing new human lives solely to destroy them and harvest their stem cells. Cloning embryos for live birth (so-called “reproductive cloning”) violates human dignity, subjecting the child to other people’s pre-conceived blueprints for the “perfect” or wanted child. In addition, attempts at live birth would involve the “trial and error” deaths of countless developing humans and any cloned humans who survive will likely suffer from devastating health problems. LB 700 would prohibit the cloning of human embryos both for research and for live birth. Just a few short years ago, the Nebraska Legislature (and the general public) debated about whether or not it is ethical to use fetal tissue from induced abortions in medical research. Those who supported the research said it should be allowed as long as it was not causing more abortions. In other words, this ethical boundary on biomedical research supposedly rejected the destruction of human life solely for research purposes. In very short order, however, this ethical boundary was dismissed by researchers and others in Nebraska who now advocate for embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). This research does what was supposedly rejected as unethical with fetal tissue research: it intentionally destroys human life solely to provide stem cells for research. Consequently, ESCR advocates simply established a new ethical boundary: One that would allow destroying unused human embryos produced for fertility purposes, but that would reject the manufacturing of embryos solely for research purposes. This brings us to the debate placed before the Legislature by LB 700. By enacting LB 700, the Legislature would establish a clear ethical boundary that rejects the manufacturing of human embryos through cloning solely to be destroyed for research. By failing to enact LB 700, the Legislature would give a green light to this violation of human dignity and human rights. We strongly urge the Legislature to say no to human cloning by saying yes to LB 700. Signed, Nebraska Right to Life
Vital Signs Ministries |
