CORE welcomes French ban on cloning
Comment on Reproductive Ethics today welcomed the news that France has joined Italy in banning all forms of cloning. A spokesperson said: "This is extremely encouraging. Opposition to reproductive cloning is hardly unexpected, but that France has come down so firmly against the ill-named 'therapeutic' cloning, where human embryos would be cloned and then destroyed, is wonderful to hear. "The prison sentence for reproductive cloning is 30 years, but there will be a seven year prison sentence and a 100,000 euro fine for anybody engaging in cloning for research purposes. "Nor will patients suffer. Destructive embryo cloning, apart from being ethically unacceptable, is not necessary. We do not need to abuse the human embryo in order to find cures for disease. Adult stem cell and other therapies are already providing the answers. "'How ironic that at the same time as this good news reaches us from just across the Channel, we await the decision of the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority to the UK's first human cloning application. A criminal act in France is considered highly desirable in the United Kingdom! Somebody must be wrong. "It is clearly time for the world to work towards an international code of bioethics. On the issue of human cloning, CORE endorses the position of Italy and France; certainly not that of the UK."