As the 2004 Presidential election nears, the issue of human cloning and embryonic stem cell research is under intense debate

As the 2004 Presidential election nears, the issue of human cloning and embryonic stem cell research is under intense debate and the stakes are tremendous.

The United Nations, headed by Secretary General Kofi Annan is currently debating two proposals: one from Costa Rica and supported by the U.S. and sixty-two other countries that would ban all human cloning, and another from Belgium and twenty-one other countries that would allow cloning of human embryos but not their transfer to a womb. Instead, the embryos would be sacrificed for scientific research.

This week, Dr. David Prentice, Senior Fellow for Life Science at Family Research Council met with a variety of yet undecided countries to gain support of a global ban on human cloning. Slovakia, Nigeria, Kenya, Norway, Ethiopia, Philippines and Uganda are the latest to join the alliance of countries speaking out on behalf of the global ban.

"This is a crucial issue," says Dr. Prentice, "Will we follow a path that allows creation of human life for experiments, creating a caste system of lesser humans for scientific sacrifice? Or will we value every human life, especially the most vulnerable?"

Some U.N. countries, including the Muslim bloc, have expressed the desire to delay a decision on the global ban, until after the U.S. elections. Their hope is that if elected, Sen. Kerry, who is on record supporting human cloning for research, will tip the balance at the U.N. and eliminate the United States as a powerful force against human cloning.

http://www.frc.org/