President Clinton today issued a directive banning the use of federal funds for any cloning of human beings.
The directive requests that the scientific community implement a voluntary moratorium on all efforts involving human cloning until the president's National Bioethics Advisory Commission concludes its study of the ethical implications of new technology that led to the first successful cloning of an adult sheep last month. Clinton said he has "deep concerns" the new discovery may lead to human cloning, warning that "any discovery that touches upon human creation is not simply a matter of scientific inquiry, it is a matter of morality and spirituality as well."
He also expressed concern there are loopholes in the current restriction on federal funding of embryo research that could leave an opening for the funding of cloning.
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