A bi-partisan plan to ban reproductive, but not "therapeutic" or research cloning, will result in "the establishment of human embryo farms," according to the National Right to Life Committee. The bill, which falsely claims to make "human cloning a crime," was proposed by Senators Orrin Hatch (R, Utah) and Dianne Feinstein (D, Calf) and would allow the cloning of human embryos while [...]
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered Dr. Ken Kan of Richmond to pay $325,000 to two separated parents, because he "failed" to diagnose that the unborn child had Down syndrome. The parents would have aborted their baby. It is only the second such ruling in Canada to date, but others are already before the courts. Lydia Zhang, the mother, 42, says [...]
If Bill C-13 were to be a pro-lifer's dream legislation, what would have to be different about it? What is the one thing that it needs to do but does not? This bill has caused an almost unbelievable level of confusion. It is easy to see that people who have no idea what right or wrong is would have a problem saying [...]
Stanford University announced in December it is creating an Institute for Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine. An anonymous donor gave $12 million to found what will be the first major institution in the country to produce human clones for medical research. Though Stanford's announcement was controversial, its plans are completely legal; although bills to ban cloning have made their way to Congress, [...]
The day after Christmas, Eve, the first human clone, was born. Or so claims the Quebec-based Raelian cult and its research subsidiary Clonaid. Within two weeks, Clonaid claimed that another cloned baby had been born in the Netherlands to a pair of lesbians. After generating much publicity, the family, the cult and Clonaid broke their initial promise to allow the child to [...]
Excitement is building in the world of stem cell research, with breakthroughs being announced regularly, if not daily. But why concentrate on both adult and embryonic stem cell research - or primarily on embryonic stem cells - when adult stem cells are proving to be more promising? Montreal Neurological Institute researcher Freda Miler says cells found in skin can form into nerve, [...]
In recent months there has been a great deal of publicity in the newspapers on the question of human cloning. As a pro-lifer I am against human cloning, but being neither a doctor nor a scientist I did not feel competent to express my sentiments in an appropriate language. However, the arrival of the March issue of Knights of Columbus magazine Knightline [...]
In the latest Star Wars film Attack of the Clones, a well-trained army of clone troopers performs brilliantly under pressure and saves the Jedi knights from almost certain defeat. In real life, however, the white-armoured clones of bounty hunter Jango Fett would likely suffer from arthritis, premature aging, mental defects, and other ailments if they had not already died in infancy, according [...]
Should scientists have a right in Canadian law to clone human beings? Yes, indeed, insists Abdallah S. Daar, professor of public-health sciences and director of the University of Toronto program in applied ethics and biotechnology; Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in health law and policy at the Health Law Institute, University of Alberta; Bartha M. Knoppers, Canada Research Chair in law and [...]
Charles Krauthammer is a Uruguayan-born, McGill University-educated medical doctor cum Washington D.C.-based political pundit whose work appears regularly in the American press. An ethnic Jew (it is unknown whether he practices) and confined to a wheelchair, he is a moderate conservative who has reservations about embryonic stem cell research. However, in the April 29 issue of The New Republic, he laid out [...]
In explaining why the federal government will allow embryonic stem cell research, Health Minister Anne McLellan said "These are surplus embryos. You know what happens to them? They go in the garbage." That is hardly true and certainly should never be true. But examine the logic of the health minister's words and you see a callous disregard for human life. The choice [...]
How many Canadians do you think know the nature of the procedures involved in assisted reproductive technologies and in vitro-fertilization? How many Christians, or other generally pro-life people, do you think understand the nature of these procedures? Well, I don't know the details either, but I am thinking particularly of the abortion/murder-related implications. About a year ago, an evangelical monthly magazine published [...]
Liberal, Alliance and Bloc Quebecois MPs on the House of Commons health committee accused Canadian Institutes of Health Research president Alan Bernstein of pre-empting Parliament when it announced funding guidelines for embryonic stem cell research in March, about two months before federal Health Minister Ann McLellan was expected to introduce legislation outlining experimental and reproductive technologies legislation. The CIHR guidelines permit federal [...]
U.S. President George Bush named University of Chicago ethicist Leon Kass the chairman of his President's Council on Bioethics in August. The events of Sept. 11 delayed the naming of the other 17 members, who were finally revealed in January. The list is controversial in some circles, because it is more conservative than previous presidential bioethics councils. The members include such nationally [...]
Right to life observer finds panelists prefer to discuss science over ethics On Feb. 1, York University's Bethune College held a Stem Cell Symposium, attended by about 200 students and a smattering of professors. The science of stem cells was presented with clarity as the six-member panel examined this exciting new ground of regenerative medicine. But despite giving lip service to the [...]