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embryonic stem cell colonies from the lab of developmental biologist James Thompson
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Used with permission © University of Wisconsin Board of Regents

President Bush talks to the nation about stem cell research from Crawford, Texas, Thursday, August 9, 2001. White House Photo by Eric Draper.

White House today announces that President Bush "strongly endorses Senator Brownback's bill, S. 658, which would ban the practice of human cloning," including the "therapeutic" cloning, or "somatic cell nuclear transfer" procedure that underlies all embryonic stem cell research and all possible use of embryonic stem cells in medical treatments

Following recent inquires from California Politics Today about President Bush's position on the currently-pending S. 658, a bill by U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) that would, if passed and signed by the President, ban within the United States all types of human cloning, including the "therapeutic" cloning ("somatic cell nuclear transfer") explicitly legalized within California by the passage of Proposition 71 in 2004, White House spokesperson David Almacy today stated that "the president strongly endorses Senator Brownback's bill, S. 658, which would ban the practice of human cloning."

On August 9, 2001, President George W. Bush delivered a television address to the American people in which he said, "I strongly oppose human cloning, as do most Americans.".

Two days later, on August 11, 2001, President Bush made stem cell research the subject of his weekly radio address to the nation. At that time, he said, "I strongly oppose cloning."

Subsequently, President Bush implemented a federal policy of funding embryonic stem cell research only when it involved using one or more embryonic stem cell lines already in existence at the time he instituted his policy.

According to a statement made today to California Politics Today by White House spokesperson David Almacy:

"The President supports stem cell research, including embryonic stem cell research and he is the first President to approve federal funding for the effort. This is a promising area of research, but the science is still in the very early stages, according to the White House."

Federal policy on embryonic stem cell research under President Bush has, accordingly, been to allow it but not allow the federal government to pay for it, unless it involves certain pre-existing embryonic stem cell lines.

See, in this regard, a January 23, 2005 article on the Forbes.com web site entitled "U.S. Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Contaminated."

Following the implementation of this policy on the federal level, interested parties in California drafted Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, to provide $3 billion in public funding, to be raised by the sale of bonds issued by the State of California, to fund bio-medical research using newly-created embryonic stem cells of the type that President Bush's policies allowed to be created, but only as long as federal funds were not used in to make them, or to conduct research with or on them after they had been created.

Referring to human cloning as "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT), Proposition 71 explicitly legalized (within California) this procedure, in which the genetic material in a human egg is removed and replaced with the DNA from another cell, prior to the re-constituted cell being activitated instead of fertilized, thereby creating a viable human embryo, albeit one destined to be destroyed at the blastocyst stage in order to harvest the "inner cell mass" (which becomes an aggregation of "embryonic stem cells" once removed), rather than being implanted in a uterus where it may grow into a fetus.

Put another way, it is the post-activation treatment of any and all products of "somatic cell nuclear transfer" that determines whether they constitute a case of "therapeutic" or "reproductive" cloning. "Therapeutic clones" are products of "somatic cell nuclear transfer" whose inner cell masses are harvested to produce embryonic stem cells. "Reproductive clones" are products of "somatic cell nuclear transfer" which are implanted in a uterus in order to allow their gestation.

On March 17, 2005, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) introduced the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005" (S. 658), which would definitively prohibit human cloning (also referred to in this legislation as "somatic cell nuclear transfer") within the United States, whether such cloning was intended for reproductive or research purposes.

Indeed, Senator Brownback believes that there is no meaningful distinction between "reproductive" human cloning and human cloning for "research" purposes. In a press release issued by his office to accompany the introduction of S. 658 on March 17, 2005, Senator Brownback said:

"All human cloning is reproductive. What we must decide as a society is what do we do with the young, cloned human? We have yet to collectively answer the ethical questions involved with implanting that clone or destroying it for research."

In another, more recent press release, Senator Brownback declared his equally strong opposition to any effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to reconsider the current ban on "federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research," saying:

"If legislation to expand taxpayer funding of destructive human embryonic stem cell research comes before the Senate in the coming weeks or months, I will use all legislative options available to defeat it.

"I oppose destructive embryonic stem cell research because it results in the untimely termination of a young human life. To expand taxpayer funding of human embryo-destructive research is wrong, and it cruelly plays on the hopes and fears of those suffering from illness and disease. We should shift taxpayer funds to non-destructive, ethically-sound research that is resulting in real treatments and real cures for real people."

(You can read about efforts by the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) in 2002 to defeat an earlier effort by Senator Brownback to suppress human cloning by sponsoring an amendment that "would preclude the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) from granting patents for an organism of human species at any stage of development produced by any method, a living organism made by human cloning, and a process of human cloning," by clicking here. That group, at that time, said of this effort by Senator Brownback:

"This is clearly yet another attempt by Senator Brownback to halt somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also known as therapeutic cloning, in order to stop the development of cures for deadly diseases.")

Proposition 71, which was passed by a 3-2 margin by the voters of California on November 2, 2004, following its endorsement on October 26, 2004 by actor Brad Pitt, defines "human reproductive cloning" (in its own Article 3, Section 125292.10 (k))as:

"the practice of creating or attempting to create a human being by transferring the nucleus from a human cell into an egg cell from which the nucleus has been removed for the purpose of implanting the resulting product in a uterus to initiate a pregnancy." (emphasis added)

At Article 3, Section 125292.10 (q), Proposition 71 defines "pluripotent cells" (embryonic stem cells) as "cells that are capable of self-renewal, and have broad potential to differentiate into multiple adult cell types. Pluripotent stem cells may be derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer or from surplus products of in vitro fertilization treatments when such products are donated under appropriate informed consent procedures. These excess cells from in vitro fertilization treatments would otherwise be intended to be discarded if not utilized for medical research."

Article 3, Section 125292.10 does not contain a definitive definition of the "somatic cell nuclear transfer" procedure referred in Article 3, Section 125292.10 (q).

As reported by ABC News in a re-printed article by Paul Elias, embryonic stem cell beat reporter for the Associated Press entitled Calif. Panel Going After Anti-Cloning Bill: California Stem Cell Committee Plans to Use Fund-Raising Prowess to Defeat Anti-Cloning Bill," ICOC Chair Robert Klein II and other supporters of Proposition 71 are now organizing to defeat efforts by Senator Brownback and others to pass S. 658.

Robert Klein II, the driving force behind Proposition 71 and now the ICOC, first made a name for himself by providing his expertise and consulting services regarding the creation and sale of government bonds to Fresno County in the early 1980s.

Mr. Klein was unanimously elected Chair of the ICOC on December 17, 2004, after being nominated for that post by all four of the California state constitutional officers (Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, and State Controller Steve Westly) empowered by Proposition 71, which he principally wrote, to designate candidates for that position.

As reported in California Politics Today four days after his election, on December 21, 2004, "ICOC/stem cell chair Robert Klein II contributed $176,139.87 to three of the four politicians who (unanimously) nominated him for his new job", Democrats Cruz Bustamante, Phil Angelides, and Steve Westly.

After passing Proposition 71, the "Yes on 71: the California Stem Cell Research & Cures Initiative" campaign organization morphed into the "California Research and Cures Coalition" (CRCC), which will now continue its advocacy and support of publicly-financed embryonic stem cell research by working to stop Senator Brownback and his political allies from passing S. 658.

Following inquires from California Politics Today about President Bush's position on Senator Brownback's bill, S. 658, to ban all types of human cloning, including the "therapeutic" cloning ("somatic cell nuclear transfer") explicitly legalized within California by the passage of Proposition 71 in 2004, White House spokesperson David Almacy today stated that "the president strongly endorses Senator Brownback's bill, S. 658, which would ban the practice of human cloning."