Show Me State Duped by Deceptive Amendment
2
Chicago, Illinois –
Director of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity (CBHD) C.
Ben Mitchell, Ph.D., says of the passage of Missouri’s Amendment 2:
“This is no triumph for science, it is a victory for dishonesty and
confusion—a new Tower of Babel—where words have no meaning.”
While Amendment 2: The Stem Cell Research
and Cures Initiative claims to ban human cloning, it actually
provides constitutional protection for human cloning, banning only
the gestation of a human clone and thus mandating the death of any
human clones that are produced.
This was accomplished by using a definition
of human cloning that is intentionally deceptive. In humans, the
cloning procedure, Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer or SCNT, combines a
woman’s egg with the nucleus of a body (or somatic) cell. The result
is a human embryo, which will then be destroyed for highly
speculative research.
Backers of Amendment 2 claimed this is not
“cloning,” but practically every scientific authority disagrees with
them. Amendment 2 authorizes the creation of human embryos using the
SCNT procedure—that is by cloning—in order to destroy them.
Having recognized the dangers of exactly
this kind of human cloning, Canada and a number of European
countries have outlawed it. Now the citizens of Missouri have been
tricked into protecting it constitutionally.
“Missouri voters have sown the wind and they
will reap the whirlwind,” says Mitchell. “You cannot sow the seeds
of immorality into the Constitution of the state and not harvest a
whirlwind of problems in the future.”
We applaud Missourians Against Human Cloning
and other pro-life organizations for their extraordinary efforts.
The narrow defeat shows that education is crucial. Many of those who
supported Amendment 2 just couldn't see through the fog created by
the politicians.
About The Center for Bioethics & Human
Dignity
The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity is a 501 (c)(3)
non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the nexus of
biomedicine, biotechnology, and our common humanity. The Center
exists to equip thought leaders to engage the issues of bioethics
using the tools of rigorous research, conceptual analysis,
charitable critique, leading-edge publication, and effective
teaching.CBHD
Contact:
For Interviews with Center Director C. Ben Mitchell, Ph.D., or
Other Center Personnel
Danielle Morrow 847-345-7248 or
media@cbhd.org
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