Baptists start a call for patent moratorium

Following a vote to oppose the patenting of human and animal genes and tissue at its annual meeting last week in Atlanta, the Southern Baptist Convention will launch a grassroots campaign aimed at Congress and the Clinton administration.

On a voice vote, an estimated 95 percent of the attendees at the Southern Baptist Convention called for "an immediate moratorium on patenting of animal and human tissues and genetic sequences until a full and complete discussion has occurred," said Richard Land, executive director of the Convention's Christian Life Commission. The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in America, with 15.6 million members and 39,700 churches...