The following news release was issued today, July 21.
ST. PAUL — The State of Minnesota is now involved in the human cloning business. After the state Legislature failed to re-authorize a ban on state funded human cloning during the special session, it is now legal to use taxpayer dollars to create cloned human embryos.
The ban on the use of state taxpayer money had been in place since 2009 and encompassed all forms of human cloning, aka somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), whether intended for reproductive or so-called therapeutic purposes. The University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute repeatedly testified during the regular 2011 session against a permanent ban on state funding of human cloning, saying it wanted to leave open its option to clone human life with state funds.
"In these hard economic times when so many Minnesotans are hurting, it is a tragedy that our taxpayer dollars can now be wasted to create and kill the tiniest human beings," stated MCCL President Leo LaLonde.
During the regular 2011 legislative session, state legislators passed a total ban on all forms of human cloning, in addition to passing a continuation of the ban on taxpayer funding of human cloning. Governor Dayton vetoed the pro-life legislation. Then in a legislative deal struck by pro-abortion Gov. Dayton and Senate Majority Leader Koch and Speaker of the House Zellers going into the special session, no pro-life provisions would even be allowed to be considered.
"Many states and countries and the United Nations have called for an all-out ban on all forms of human cloning, but here in Minnesota we will now actually make state funds available to create human clones," stated LaLonde. "This is despite the fact that polling consistently shows that the American people are overwhelmingly opposed to human cloning."
Scientists who create cloned human embryos typically dissect and kill the human clones within days after they are alive. It is not known how many human clones may eventually be created and killed by various institutions in Minnesota, including the University of Minnesota, or which ones will be state funded, as there are no reporting requirements to disclose the number of deaths.
