The upcoming vote on Missouri's Amendment 2 is very important. What is Amendment 2? It is a proposed amendment to the Missouri state constitution that claims it bans human cloning. It would do no such thing. Amendment 2 actually creates a constitutional right to conduct somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in humans. SCNT is the very same process that created Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. If successful, SCNT in humans would create a cloned human embryo, and would be, without a doubt, human cloning.
So how do supporters of Amendment 2 get around this little factoid and say they are banning human cloning? Well, if you read the fine print, the amendment bans the implantation of a cloned human embryo, not the creation of a cloned human embryo. So, by voting for Amendment 2, Missouri voters may think they are banning human cloning, but they would instead be voting for a constitutional right to create cloned human embryos destined to be destroyed for research. A major slight of hand, I would say.
Why is Amendment 2 important for anyone living outside of Missouri? Because if this deceptive tactic works, it will be coming to a state near you.
So, if you live in Missouri, think carefully about your vote on Amendment 2. If you know someone who does, encourge them to visit this new website about the deception of Amendment 2. It is aptly called www.2tricky.org.
Hat tip: Wesley J. Smith
How does it create a right? Not forbidding something does not count as creating a right to do something. As far as I can tell, it does not allow implanting of a cloned embryo, and it does not allow the creation of a blastocyst by cloning for the purposes of deriving stem cells. It might allow cloning for other purposes, provided that it is never implanted, and if they take stem cells before a certain point of development it would still be not forbidden. But it doesn't say there's a right to do this, does it? And I can't think of any easy way to come up with a motivation to do this that is neither implantation nor stem cells.
The amendment states, "any stem cell research permitted under federal law may be conducted in Missouri...". Currently, there is no stem cell research that is illegal on a federal level. That includes using somatic cell nuclear transfer, better known as cloning, to create cloned embryos for use in embryonic stem cell research. By making this a constitutional amendment, as opposed to a law passed by the state legislature, the amendment makes it a constitutional right to conduct this kind of research in Missouri.
If you bring up Dolly the sheep, you have to remember that it was born from a womb. That's a necessary part of the cloning process, which IS banned, as is stated above.
Actually, implantation is not a requirement. The cloning process is called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and is independent of implantation. It is analogous to in vitro fertilization. IVF is IVF and creates embryos whether those embryos are implanted or not.
SCNT in humans would create a cloned human embryo. If the embryo was implanted that would be called reproductive cloning and if the embryo was destroying for its parts would be called therapeutic cloning. Cloning is cloning regardless of the fate of the embryo.
Don't take my word for it. View this tutorial from the Dept. of Molecular Biology at Princeton that shows that nuclear transfer creates a cloned embryo:
http://www.molbio.princeton.edu/courses/mb427/2001/projects/09/transfertutorial.htm
i am totaly against this man
This has nothing to do with Dolly the Sheep. And it has nothing to do with the ridiculous fear some people voice: "I don't to walk down the street one day and see my clone walking in the other direction." Everything you fear is outright banned by the amendment, plain as day. Unless you fear the destruction of all human embryoes, in which case you should probably stop blogging and should start buying up all of the embryoes that are destroyed every day from fertility clinics.
That Jim Caviezal ad in which is speaks in Aramaic is terrifying and bizarre. Glad I'm a Jew in DC, and not wherever that ad polled well.
I wish you were less of a liar. You are destroying America.
You are crazy,
And I wish you wouldn't use ad hominem arguments (you may want to look that up) that way we could have an intelligent debate.
I looked at that Princeton link mentioned above and I must admit that I'm truly amazed and hopeful at what looks to me like LIFE-SAVING CURES!!!
I urge eveyone in Missouri to vote no on amendment 2. It is deceiving missouri voters to think that it would not allow human cloning but in fact it does. If passed it it would be funded by the peoples tax dollars without accountability from the people they are taking the money from.WHO IS FOOLING WHO?
A well informed voter will see the truth of this propaganda.Just follow the money trail.A Kansas city lab owned by the Stowers have funded all the deception have sunk over 23 million dollars into all the ads etc to get this passed so they can reap much more at the lives of children if passed.
So please Missouri vote no stand up for ethical,moral and spiritual standards and not give in to the power of persuassion but stand for truth.
As a St Louis, Missouri pastor, I believe that life begins at conception, whether through fertilization or SCNT (cloning). The Bible's teaching on the importance of human life argues against either the formation of human embryos via SCNT or their destruction to harvest embyronic stem cells. You can read more of my thoughts at Missouri Amendment 2: A Biblical Perspective.