US House bans human cloning

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to ban all forms of human cloning on Thursday, defeating a rival Bill that would allow ...

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to ban all forms of human cloning on Thursday, defeating a rival Bill that would allow the use of cloning technology for medical research.

The House passed a similar Bill in 2001, but the Senate failed to pass any legislation on cloning. The issue once again lies in the Senate, where similar rival bills await passage.

The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 was passed by a vote of 241 to 155 after several hours of debate. It bans all human cloning, including cloning to create a pregnancy or for medical research. Under this it would also be a crime to ‘‘receive or import a cloned human embryo or any product derived from a cloned human embryo’’, with fines of $1 million and 10 years in prison.

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President George W. Bush applauded the vote. Bush has said he would veto anything less than a total ban on human cloning.

Both Bills received support of the Republicans and Democrats, as well as abortion-rights and anti-abortion backers.

But the new Senate majority leader, Tennessee Republican Bill Frist, has said he supports a ban on all cloning, including therapeutic cloning.

The House defeated an amendment, sponsored by Pennsylvania Republican Jim Greenwood, Florida Democrat Peter Deutsch and others, that would outlaw cloning to make a baby but specifically encourage therapeutic cloning. (Reuters)