House ready to re-debate cloning ban

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The House of Representatives Thursday prepared to ban human cloning, a controversial issue since a religious sect claimed to have successfully performed a cloning last year. The House passed a similar ban last year, before the Raelian religious movement claimed to have successful cloned a human without providing evidence.

The House will debate whether scientific research that multiplies human embryo cells in a science lab actually composes research on human life itself, or merely human tissue. The issue is an emotional one for many political segments that consider it a moral question, or a proxy debate on the start of life itself, which could have implications in the abortion debate.

Last year, the House unilaterally banned all cloning research, but the matter never received a vote in the Senate. Such a ban is likely to pass the House once again, but it is expected to see a vigorous debate in the Senate later this year.

Several religious groups -- and anti-abortion activists -- along with many politicians from both parties argue that any dividing clump of cells is a human life that should remain free of scientific experimentation. Proponents of some cloning research argue that such experiments can produce "stem cells" that can regenerate in any part of the body and could hold the key to solving a multitude of diseases and conditions.

No one has successfully cloned a human being yet -- although the Raelian movement and its company Clonaid claim have done so twice without offering any evidence -- although some companies have managed to split clumps of cells in lab settings.

However, a variety of farm animals have been cloned and experts contend the possibility of a successful human cloning is not far off.

Florida Republican Rep. Dave Weldon has introduced the all-out ban on cloning, while Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Penn., has offered an alternative that bars cloning for purposes of pregnancy.

It is unclear how soon the House might vote on either measure, but one could come this week.