The White House proposal on human cloning

The bill proposed by the White House on June 9 is six pages long, including findings about the dangers of human cloning. But the operative paragraph ("Section 5, Prohibition") is short:

It shall be unlawful for any person or other legal entity, public or private, to perform or use somatic cell nuclear transfer with the intent of introducing the product of that transfer into a woman's womb or in any other way creating a human being.

In February 1997, the American people asked for a ban on human cloning (according to polls at that time, 90% of Americans support a ban). The NBAC resisted that clear call for action, and recommended permitting human cloning, but prohibiting implantation of a cloned embryo. The White House proposal (above) permits cloning and also permits implantation; it prohibits only cloning with intent to implant. Under this bill, a researcher could legally clone an embryonic human as long as he did not intend to implant the tiny creature; a clinician could obtain the human embryo from the researcher and implant, as long as the two were not operating together as a single legal entity.

A ban on cloning with intent to implant is totally meaningless.