LIFE DIGEST: Oklahoma lawmakers OK cloning ban
- May 19, 2009 -
The Oklahoma legislature has unanimously approved a bill to prohibit all forms of human cloning.
The House of Representatives voted 83-0 for the measure May 15, and the Senate passed the bill with a 44-0 vote the same day, according to The Daily Oklahoman.
Also in this edition: More than half of Britain’s teen pregnancies end in abortion, Minnesota bars funds for human cloning, and N.D. governor signs two pro-life bills.
The legislation goes to Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat who vetoed a ban on embryonic stem cell research April 22. The extraction of stem cells from a human embryo for research purposes destroys the days-old human being.
If Henry were to veto the measure, a veto override – which requires a two-thirds majority – would appear to be a foregone conclusion. In April, the House voted to override Henry’s veto of the embryonic stem cell ban, but the Senate override effort fell short.
The bill approved by the Oklahoma legislature would ban the creation of an embryo by cloning in order to harvest his stem cells, as well as the production of an embryo for the purpose of carrying the child to term.
“The idea that we would allow the creation of human embryos through cloning crosses an ethical line and violates our most basic values,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Pam Peterson, a Republican from Tulsa.
Bioethics specialist Wesley Smith applauded the bill’s passage. “This is the first true human cloning ban to pass in a long time,” Smith wrote on his weblog. “Unless the governor vetoes the bill and that veto is upheld, it looks like Oklahoma has pushed back against [the] brave new world.”
More than half of Britain’s teen pregnancies end in abortion
More than half of the pregnancies to underage girls in Great Britain ended in abortion for the first time last year.
New government statistics show there were about 40,000 pregnancies to girls under the age of 18 in 2008, and more than 20,000 of those were ended by abortion, according to the Daily Mail.
Amazingly, some supporters of abortion rights applauded that development. “The fact that teenagers felt able to end their pregnancy in abortion is actually a positive sign,” said Ann Furedi of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, according to the Daily Mail.
The statistics demonstrate Britain’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, which began in 1999, is failing. The initiative, which involves the free distribution of contraceptives and expanded sex education, was intended to cut in half the number of pregnancies among underage girls between 1998 and 2010. Instead, the teen pregnancy rate is higher than it was in 1995, the Daily Mail reported.
The British newspaper reported on one girl who had four abortions before she turned 16. “I don’t know why so many teenagers are falling into the same trap,” said the girl, Lucy Lanelly. “Sex education is obviously not working.”
Minnesota bars funds for human cloning
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill May 16 prohibiting the use of state funds for human cloning.
The measure, which became law as part of legislation funding higher education, bars the University of Minnesota from using state money to pursue human cloning, according to Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL). The ban applies to cloning for both research and reproductive purposes. It is believed the University of Minnesota’s Stem Cell Institute is seeking to produce clones for research, MCCL reported.
MCCL commended Pawlenty, a Republican, and the legislature “for establishing a clear ethical boundary which upholds the integrity of the human embryo and opposes the commodification of the human body,” MCCL Executive Director Scott Fischbach said in a written release. “Human life must be treated with dignity, not as mere raw material for experimentation.”
N.D. governor signs two pro-life bills
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven has signed into law two measures to provide more information to mothers before they undergo abortions.
The Republican enacted a bill that would require a doctor to offer a woman the opportunity to view an ultrasound image of her unborn child before she has an abortion. He also signed legislation that would mandate a woman be told her abortion would “terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being,” according to LifeNews.com.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. If your church is interested in purchasing bulletin inserts or other materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Life, Abortion, Cloning, Stem-Cell Research, Science, Bioethics