Attack of the clones

I realize that title's a bit dramatic. But maybe not TOO dramatic.

Sen. Phyllis Kahn (D-Minneapolis) has taken up her embryonic stem cell research bill again. I followed this closely last year. In the 2007 session, Kahn's bill passed in the Senate, and it was being heard in the House at the end of the session. It seeks to provide tax-based funding to embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) to the University of Minnesota. The U of M is home to the nation's first stem cell Institute.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference strongly opposed this bill because of the Catholic Church's position on human life. ESCR not only requires the destruction of a human embryo (one of the first stages of a human life), but it could also lead to human cloning.

The bill (S.F. 100) was taken up in a House committee Thursday. Chris Leifeld at the Minnesota Catholic Conference submitted a letter to the House Public Safety and Civil Justice committee. He wrote:

"Regardless of the potential medical benefits, it is wrong to rely upon the destruction of some human beings for the possible benefit of others." He pointed to alternative means of obtaining stem cells, such as from adults and umbilical cord blood, as the direction to which legislators should focus their attention.