Bishops’ spokesperson hails UN declaration against human cloning

Washington D.C., Mar 9, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The United Nations declaration against all forms of human cloning, including therapeutic cloning, “is a powerful statement in favor of the dignity and inviolability of human life,” said the planning and information director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Secretariat.

Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq., also commended the declaration’s call to “prevent the exploitation of women.”

“Allowing human cloning for experimentation would require countless numbers of women to surrender their eggs by an extraction process that is both painful and dangerous,” said Ruse.

The UN passed the declaration after years of debate, urging member states to adopt laws banning all forms of human cloning “inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.” It was ratified by the General Assembly by a vote of 84 to 34, with 37 members abstaining.

Ruse also hailed the declaration’s ban of therapeutic cloning, whose process requires killing an embryo and “treats human life as a commodity to be created for experimentation.”

The UN declaration is expected to have a profound impact on human cloning debates around the world, including in the United States.