[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 162 (Wednesday, November 28, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H8426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HUMAN CLONING UNETHICAL
(Mr. WELDON of Florida asked and was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, it was announced that
the Massachusetts biotechnology company, Advanced Cell Technology, had
created the first human clones. They claim they only want to use these
embryos for research purposes. However, this research is unethical for
at least two reasons:
First, it involves the special creation of human life for
experimentation and then destruction. There are morally acceptable
alternatives to this type of research.
Secondly, for this research to advance, scientists will need massive
quantities of women's eggs to generate the necessary number of clones
for the research to proceed. Women will be donating their eggs not for
the purpose of having children but for the purpose of making money.
As pro-choice feminist Judy Norsigian said in a Boston Globe column,
``Because embryo cloning will compromise women's health, turn their
eggs and their wombs into commodities, compromising their reproductive
autonomy and virtually certainly lead to the production of experimental
human beings, we are convinced the line must be drawn here.''
Judy is right. The Senate needs to act.
____________________