Bush Criticizes Human Cloning, But Acts to Make It More Likely

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Nick Berning, 202-222-0748

In his State of the Union speech Monday, President Bush urged Congress to ban the unethical practices of “buying, selling, patenting, or cloning of human life.” However, the Bush administration’s policies are actually laying the groundwork for human cloning. Just a few weeks ago the Bush administration approved the addition of cloned animals to the human food supply with a Food and Drug Administration decision to lift a voluntary ban on cloned animals in food.

“Perhaps Bush does not realize that, as far as the science goes, cloning animals is no different than cloning humans,” said Gillian Madill of Friends of the Earth. “By approving this technology for animals, scientists will have the financial motivation to perfect the technology. Once perfected, the technology will undoubtedly be used to clone humans. Bush says he wants to ban human cloning, but his policy decisions are making human cloning increasingly likely. If he’s serious about what he said, he should direct the FDA to do an about face.”

Friends of the Earth has taken a stand against the FDA’s decision to approve cloned meat and dairy and has already gathered thousands of signatures to a petition asking grocers to refuse to sell cloned meat and dairy products.

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