Statement on Human
Cloning
The National Pro-Life Religious Council
601 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 900
Washington, DC 20002
May 7, 2002
The National Pro-Life Religious Council (NPRC) representing
constituent groups within Evangelical Protestant, Old-line
Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, firmly supports
the Brownback-Landrieu bill (S-1899) banning research (so-called
"therapeutic") and reproductive human cloning. Standing on
the Great Tradition of ecumenical and historic Christianity,
and making our witness for the common good of American Society,
we are guided by the Truth that each human life is created
by God, in the image of God, and therefore has God-given dignity.
Ideas have consequences. False ideas have destructive consequences.
When the truth of the divine origin and the dignity of human
life are ignored, human lives are cheapened, manipulated,
violated and discarded at will.
Only a few decades ago, Nazi Third Reich physicians conducted
fatal medical experiments on those whom they considered to
be of lesser worth than others. They justified their immoral
practices with a utilitarian argument -- the idea that one
should aim for the greatest good for the greatest number of
people. Their utilitarianism, supported by a totalitarian
government, and its dire consequences stand as a warning to
all governments and societies.
In our day, human cloning is proposed for its reproductive
and research benefits. However, human cloning would set aside
the truth of the human person, treating human beings as commodities
to be manufactured, manipulated, and marketed for the alleged
good of other, more powerful human beings. Human cloning would
cheapen human life and coarsen society; it would ignore the
warning of the Third Reich.
Through their vote on the Brownback-Landrieu bill, United
States Senators will decide which direction they will lead
American society. Voting against the Brownback-Landrieu bill,
the US Senate would lead American society toward the unacceptable
belief that one human being can be used to benefit another.
All people of conscience, and especially Christian people,
will want to know who stands for the dignity of all human
life and who stands against it. We are disappointed to now
have to list Senator Orrin Hatch among those who would stand
against the dignity of human life.
We join our prayers and our voices in urging our senators
to vote for the Brownback-Landrieu bill, to lead us toward
human dignity and the expansion of civil society.
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