The potential to cure
Currently, there are two bills working their way through Congress, both entitled the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001." The bill offered by Senators Feinstein and Kennedy (Dem.) would ban only reproductive cloning ? cloning that would lead to the birth of a child ? whereas the bill sponsored by Senators Brownback, Bond '60 and Smith (Rep.) would ban both reproductive and therapeutic cloning.Underneath all of the controversy and political rhetoric, it is important for us to carefully examine the arguments for and against both forms of cloning, in order to make an informed decision as a society.In a speech last Wednesday, President Bush expressed worries that cloning research would inevitably lead to "a society in which human beings are grown for spare body parts and children are engineered to custom specifications." Both of these concerns may be unfounded.The president is mistaken that cloning will result in children that are engineered to custom specifications.




