House passes cloning ban

The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to ban all human cloning, including the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology to create embryos for research or therapeutic purposes. HR 534, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003, passed in a 241-155 vote. Alternative legislation that would have banned human reproductive cloning while allowing therapeutic cloning was defeated Thursday by a 174-231 vote. Supporters of therapeutic cloning expected to lose the House vote on HR 534, but hoped that support for a total prohibition would be weaker than it was when the House voted 265-162 to pass similar legislation in July 2001 (see BioCentury Extra, Tuesday July 31, 2001). ...