eCatholicHub - human cloning

ON HUMAN CLONING

OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN WEBSITE NOTES...

CAMPAIGN WEBSITE DOES NOT ADDRESS ISSUE - (We apologize for our inability to find and post a direct statement concerning the candidate and "human cloning" from the official campaign website. As of 6/9/08 it never mentions this issue. - Solidarity Institute research team)

OBAMA STATED...

Finally, I will oppose ideologically driven efforts by government to restrict certain types of medical research or to intervene in doctor-patient relationships. While I oppose human cloning,* [see " * " for clarification on definition of "human cloning" below] I also oppose federal restrictions on therapeutic stem cell research.* As a civil rights lawyer, I strongly opposed the Justice Department's recent efforts to subpoena patient records at Northwestern Memorial and other hospitals in its fight against so-called "partial-birth" abortions, and I generally oppose attempts to criminalize certain medical procedures or dictate the advice and counsel that can be provided by doctors to their patients.
(Sen. Obama's response to a questionnaire from the Chicage Medical Society - link)

(*In an effort to most accurately set forth Sen. Obama's stances as he has the following clarification is necessary on the use of the term "human cloning". Though Sen. Obama words seem to show that he does oppose the implantation of created human embryos into the uterus or equivalent entity - an act that can rightly be part of "human cloning", Sen. Obama's cosponsoring of Senate bill 1520 reveals that his view of "human cloning" is most likely limited. The bill does not set forth the creation of human embryos as "human cloning" only the implantation of created human embryos as "human cloning". Sen. Obama's cosponsoring seems to show that he does not oppose the creation of human embryos (for research and discarding before 14 days). (Proper modern science and therefore) The Church would clearly call the creation of human embryos, in fact, human cloning. For this reason, Solidarity Institute thought necessary to set forth for the reader and for Sen. Obama a more through representation than the simple above quote achieves - Solidarity Institute research team).
OBAMA VOTED...
Sen. Obama cosponsored a Senate Bill 1520 (the bill never went to vote) "to prevent human cloning". (The bill, however, faultily defines the act of "human cloning" as taking place only once the created human embryo is implanted into the uterus or an equivalent entity, instead of defining the act of "human cloning" as the initial creation of a human embryo (THOMAS, Library of Congress - link). The bill does not prohibit the creation of a human embryo (by somatic cell "nuclear transplantation") only the created human embryo's survival past 14 days.*
(Senate Bill 1520 - A bill to prohibit human cloning. From THOMAS, Library of Congress - link)
(*This is often called "therapeutic cloning" or harvesting embryonic stem cells and is a form of "human cloning", though the bill would mistakenly completely seperate the two forms of human cloning.)

MEANING OF COLOR CLASSIFICATIONS

I.
If a candidate receives a classification...

RED , this does not necessarily mean that the candidate is 100% in favor of the non-negotiable issue, only that the candidate's views find (some) serious and clear departure from that of the Catholic Church.

YELLOW, this does not mean that the candidate is 50% in favor of the non-negotiable issue, only that there are details of the candidate's views that require the voter's compitant understanding.

GREEN , does not mean that the Church supports or endorses a specific candidate, only that the candidate agrees with the teaching of the Catholic Church on the specific non-negotiable.

II.
Therefore if both candidates receive the same classification on a specific non-negotiable this does not necessarily mean that the candidates' positions are similar, nor that they carry the same degree of similarity or difference from the teaching of the Catholic Church.