FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 19, 2014
Contact: Mallory Quigley, [email protected], 202-223-8073
New Paper Examines Language Used by Cloning Advocates and Many in the Media to Obscure Facts
Washington, D.C. – A new paper authored by Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) senior analyst Gene Tarne examines the nature and purpose of human cloning in light of recent developments in stem cell technology. Tarne reflects on the immediate outcome of human cloning, a human embryo, and examines the terminology used by cloning advocates and some in the mainstream media to obscure the facts.
“…in so-called ‘reproductive cloning’ the intent is to create a cloned embryo and attempt to bring that embryo to live birth,” writes Tarne. “In therapeutic cloning, on the other hand, a cloned embryo is likewise created, but the intent is instead to scavenge that embryo for his or her embryonic stem cells. Such a “distinction,” however, has no scientific basis; instead, it is deliberately misleading and meant to confuse the public policy debate on human cloning.”
“…the distinction between ‘reproductive’ and ‘therapeutic’ cloning – based solely on the intention of the person performing the cloning process and not on the actual science of that process itself—is false: all cloning is reproductive, regardless of the intention of the person doing the cloning.”
“Language, like science, must be precise. Cloning for the purposes of harvesting human embryonic stem cells is the direct creation and immediate destruction of human life,” said Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute. “The research community and those reporting on it have a duty of accuracy in their terminology. Innocuous terms like ‘therapeutic cloning’ are misleading and obscure the implications for the smallest among us.”
The Charlotte Lozier Institute was launched in 2011 as the education and research arm of Susan B. Anthony List. The CLI is a hub for research and public policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and nations around the world. The Institute is named for a feminist physician known for her commitment to the sanctity of human life and equal career and educational opportunities for women. She was an associate of Susan B. Anthony and her capsule biography can be found at lozierinstitute.org.
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