Members of the House Banned ``Human Embryonic Cloning``

The House of Representatives (US) passed the bill to ban human embryonic cloning for any purpose with 265 yeas and 162 nays on 31st of July. The bill allowing human embryonic cloning for only therapeutic and scientific purpose was also rejected with 249 yeas and 178 nays. If this bill is also approved in the upper house, any human cloning will be banned in the US. The bill regulates penalties of up to 10 years in prison, and/or one million dollars, for those who violate the purposed ban.

Before coming to this decision, there was a heated debate on human cloning on the Hill for 6 hours. Those who voted for the bill emphasized the ethical issues the human cloning will bring about. Others said that human cloning for therapeutic purpose for incurable disease should not be banned.

President Bush supported the bill through a statement; ``The ethical problems from human cloning is very serious. I strongly support the decision of the House to ban any kind of human cloning.``

eligius@donga.com