MRL's First Guest Editorial

Iowans misled about stem cell bill
By Hannah Flanders

Readers: Muscatine Right to Life hopes that a series of guest editorials, beginning today and running about once a month, will help residents of the Muscatine area be better aware of pro-life issues and what is going on in the Legislature or even in our own community.
—Andrew Rauenbuehler
Muscatine Right to Life

Were Iowa citizens deceived and even lied to when the governor pushed to repeal the Iowa human cloning ban by calling it a so-called stem cell research initiative?Without a doubt, the citizens of Iowa have been craftily misinformed on the issues and facts concerning the so-called “embryonic stem cell research initiative” bill.
The most frustrating part about this bill is that there has NEVER been a ban on any kind of stem cell research in Iowa. Before this bill was ever brought up, all scientists in Iowa had the legal ability to perform any form of stem cell research! We Iowans were led to believe the fallacy that the so-called embryonic stem cell research initiative bill would allow stem cell research to begin in Iowa, which is most obviously unnecessary since there never was a ban on stem cell research in the first place.Although any kind of stem cell research was permitted in the state of Iowa, what was not allowed was any form of human cloning. Before the passing of this human cloning bill, it was a Class C felony for anyone to attempt cloning a human being. The penalty of this action would result in a 15-year prison term.We Iowans were told that no one had suggested lifting the ban on human cloning through this bill. We were also told that House File 287 and Senate File 162, so-called “embryonic stem cell research initiative” bills, merely entered the human cloning code section to add language allowing “somatic cell nuclear transfer” to be legal according to the bill, and we were then assured that having taken the “somatic cell nuclear transfer” language out, the Iowa human cloning ban (initiated in 2002) would be reaffirmed.What we were not told was that somatic cell nuclear transfer is a form of human cloning. Somatic cell nuclear transfer is also known as “therapeutic cloning.” Through the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer, human embryos can be formed without a male sperm involved.The process works in this system: Scientists take the nucleus of a body (somatic) cell and put it into an egg cell (ovum) that has had its nucleus removed. Regardless of any arguments, the result of this process is a cloned embryo. In fact, somatic cell nuclear transfer was the exact method used to clone “Dolly” the sheep.The process of somatic cell nuclear transfer is simply the act of creating a human embryo without a male sperm.The cloned human embryos formed through somatic cell nuclear transfer could either be implanted within a woman’s womb (which is known as reproductive cloning) or could be used for scientific research in which the clone would be harvested for its stem cells and therefore destroyed. Somatic cell nuclear transfer” (therapeutic cloning) and reproductive cloning are exactly the same, the only difference between these two cloning methods is that in one case the clone would be implanted in a woman’s womb and in the other it would be destroyed.Reproductive cloning is still illegal in the state of Iowa.As fellow citizens and taxpayers of Iowa, we deserve the right to be informed on the plans and happenings in the Iowa Legislature. Those in favor of the human cloning bill did not properly inform the Iowa citizens that somatic cell nuclear transfer and therapeutic cloning are the same thing. They merely told us that no one had suggested lifting the ban on human cloning and that our human cloning ban would be reaffirmed.If no one had suggested lifting the ban on human cloning, then why was the so-called embryonic stem cell research initiative bill concerning somatic cell nuclear transfer passed? Human cloning and somatic nuclear cell transfer are the same thing, whether stated simply or scientifically. How is it possible that the Iowa Legislature can take language from the cloning code section (somatic cell nuclear transfer) and then reaffirm the ban on cloning if, somatic nuclear cell transfer is cloning?Wouldn’t you agree that this would be making something both legal and illegal at the same time?The bottom line is human cloning is no longer banned in the state of Iowa.

Hannah Flanders, age 15, is a member of the recently formed Muscatine Right to Life chapter, part of a national organization whose stated goal is to “restore legal protection to innocent human life.”