Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 15:35:37 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <200205311935.PAA09991@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: senator@kennedy.senate.gov
Subject: oppose S.2439 Human Cloning Prohibition Act

Dear Senator Kennedy

The Senate Judiciary Committee, of which you are a member, is currently
considering S.2439, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act.  I support the eventual
availability of safe human cloning as a reproductive option, and I hope that
you, as a supporter of reproductive freedom, will oppose any measures that
would interfere with the application of safe human cloning techniques, once
such techniques have been developed.

We do not stigmatise identical twins, who are natural clones of each other.
Why, then, should clones created with technological assistance be viewed any
more negatively than natural clones?  Although current cloning procedures can
lead to defects and would therefore be unethical to apply in humans, this will
not always be the case.  A comprehensive and perpetual ban on cloning of the
complete human organism will only produce a disincentive to the development of
more advanced and safe techniques.  If the technology is allowed to develop,
within the next decades human cloning will become a reproductive option for
prospective parents whose spouses suffer from genetic defects or who have other
barriers to natural reproduction.

Again, as your constituent I urge you to support reproductive freedom and
technological innovation, by opposing any permanent ban on human cloning.

Matthew Belmonte