Will Missouri voters make an about face on human cloning?

Lost in all of the discussion amid last fall's election cycle is the fact that voters in Missouri, by a 51-49% majority, passed a state amendment allowing for stem cell research that destroys human life. This is bad enough, but what made it worse is that the bill also legalized one particular form of human cloning. Supporters of "Amendment Two", as it was known, claimed that it actually banned cloning. The summary of the amendment that voters read in the voting booth claimed that it banned cloning. However, the bill itself was about 2,000 words long. Hidden in the amendment was an exception for "Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer" which is the particular type of cloning that was used to clone "Dolly the Sheep."

You're probably wondering, "How is it possible for voters to pass an amendment "banning cloning" but then that same amendment actually turns out to make cloning legal? How is it that an entire state could be so duped? In essence, they changed the definition of cloning. It's not cloning, they figure, if they destroy the human life before it has a chance to be born. It's only cloning, they figure, if a birth certificate is involved. They can claim that they are banning cloning, even though they are cloning humans all the day long and destroying the evidence, as if it never happened.

Make no mistake about it: Human cloning is currently legal in Missouri. Concerned citizens in every state should keep an eye on this case. "Cures Without Cloning" is an initiative in Missouri which aims to place an amendment on the ballot next fall making all human cloning illegal. Let's pray they are successful and let's remember that if human cloning can be sneaked into the Missouri constitution, it can be sneaked into the constitution of any state. Human cloning supporters lack the courage to come through the front door of the law. Expect them to always try to use the back.

Here is the web site for "Cures Without Cloning." Check it out and see for yourself.