American Medical Assn. Endorses
Human Cloning for Deadly Research

June 21, 2003—Washington, DC: The American Medical Association endorsed human cloning for research purposes Tuesday, putting the nation's largest organization of doctors officially at odds with pro-life organizations and the Bush administration.

The President and pro-life groups oppose the practice because it involves the destruction of human life in an attempt to obtain embryonic stem cells for research. Both favor the use of adult stem cell research which, they say, has been more effective in clinical trials in addition to being more ethical.

The policy, adopted without debate at the AMA's annual meeting, says cloning for research purposes is ethical. But the policy allows doctors who oppose the practice to refuse to perform it. The measure does not support reproductive cloning and is calls for proper oversight and informed consent for patients who may be donating embryos for use in research.

In its press announcement concerning the resolution, the AMA claimed adult stem cell research is not as effective as embryonic stem cell research.

This is the first time the 260,000-member AMA has taken a position on the controversial issue and its new chairman clamed the doctors group was not at odds with President Bush. "The AMA is not bucking the president,'' said Dr. Michael Goldrich, incoming chairman of the committee that drafted the cloning report. "The AMA is giving guidance to physicians."

President Bush opposes all cloning, research or reproductive, and the U.S. House earlier this year passed a White House-backed ban on any form of the practice. The ban has languished in the Senate. During a press conference Tuesday, Ari Fleisher reiterated Bush's anti-cloning stance.

"The President's positions on this are well- known," Fleisher explained. "The President is opposed to human cloning in all its forms."

The proposal received wide support from doctors and medical groups at the meeting, including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. A National Academy of Sciences panel last year also said cloning for research should be allowed.

A spokesman for a national group of Christian doctors, said the AMA's positions in favor of abortion and cloning are causing many pro-life doctors to decline membership.

"AMA's penchant for putting medicine on a slippery slope of unethical principles has led to a mass exodus of members for the past several decades," noted Dr. David Stevens, Executive Director of the Christian Medical Association. "Whether it's advocating abortion on demand ... or now advocating the deliberate creation and destruction of living human beings in the name of research, the AMA's unethical positions have caused a landslide membership fallout."