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by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorAugust 29, 2007Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday signed a bill that would force taxpayers there to spend money on embryonic stem cell research. His signing the measure is the latest action going against the views of pro-life advocates on whether unborn children should be sacrificed to advance scientific research.The measure would set up an institute under the Illinois Department of Public Health to award grants for the research, which has never helped any patients.It also makes embryonic stem cell research legal and establishes procedures for couples to donate their "unwanted" human embryos for...

August 24, 2007, 6:00 a.m. Third Clone WarMissouri measure would repeal “right to clone.” By David Freddoso The battle in Missouri over cloning did not end when Amendment 2 — the ballot measure that guaranteed scientists’ right to clone for the purpose of doing embryonic stem-cell research — won a contentious fight last November. Leaders of the newly formed coalition Missouri Cures Without Cloning (MCWC) appeared yesterday at a Jefferson City press conference to announce the filing of a state constitutional amendment for the 2008 ballot, which would ban all human cloning in the state, including the cloning of...

Clone a Human, Get $500,000 says Aussie State Premier By Hilary White SYDNEY, August 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Premier Morris Iemma, Premier of the state of New South Wales, has offered a grant of $500,000 to the first researchers to successfully create Australia’s first cloned human beings.  This June, the state parliament of New South Wales voted to overturn the previous ban on creating cloned humans for research. The lower house voted 65-26 to reinstate cloning with the strict “ethical” proviso that the embryos would be killed and harvested for stem cells thus never allowed to come to term.  Iemma also...

Homosexual advocacy groups are objecting strongly to President Bush's nominee for surgeon general, but Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr. also faces questions from conservative groups about his views on human cloning and embryonic-stem-cell research. Tom McCluskey, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council, said that Dr. Holsinger spoke to a Kentucky state legislature committee in 2002 and "testified in support of loosening regulations around cloning and embryonic-stem-cell research." "We're not supportive of his nomination right now," Mr. McCluskey said, adding that "we've been told he's come around on the issue, but the surgeon general is such a...

Orlando, FL (LifeNews.com) -- A national group for Christian doctors and dentists will hold its annual meeting in Orlando this week and there they will discuss a number of key pro-life issues. The Christian Medical & Dental Associations feature 16,000 members from across the country who take solid pro-life positions when it comes to abortion and bioethics topics.Ruth Graham, daughter of Ruth and Billy Graham, British minister Rev. Rico Tice, and top doctors and scholars will address the participants. The conference features workshops on such issues as conscience rights for medical professions to opt out of doing abortions or participating...

SYDNEY, June 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic Parliamentarians in New South Wales lined up for Communion on Sunday despite warnings from the Sydney Archbishop, Cardinal Pell, that they would face consequences for their pro-cloning votes, reports the Brisbane Times. Deputy Premier John Watkins and National party MP Adrian Piccoli were among the Catholic politicians who dismissed Pell’s warning of consequences for voting for embryonic stem cell research as mere bluster and received Communion at Sunday Mass. Watkins said he went to Mass with his family and received Communion as usual. The parish priest told him he was happy to give...

Cardinal Pell referes to "today's fashionable notion of the primacy of conscience, which is, of course secular relativism with a religious face." By Peter J. Smith SYDNEY, June 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parliamentarians in the New South Wales (NSW) lower house voted 65-26 to lift a ban on human cloning that would allow researchers to clone and destroy human embryos for stem-cell research.Yesterday’s conscience-vote saw NSW MPs reject appeals from a coalition of Christian leaders led by John Taylor, president of the Baptist Union of NSW, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen, and the Catholic Archbishop George Cardinal Pell. Cardinal...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday rejected a bill, deceptively labeled as a ban on human cloning, that actually would have allowed large-scale cloning of human embryos solely for purposes of research.The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) condemned the measure as "a clone-and-kill bill," and strongly opposed it. After the vote, NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson commented, "The House Democratic leadership tried to ram through a bill to pave the way for cloned human embryo farms, but their scam failed." The White House issued a statement before the vote that said in...

Cardinal Rigali Slams Bills on Stem Cell Use WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- U.S. bishops are urging Congress to reject legislation that would promote the destruction of human embryos.Two bills, S.5 on embryonic stem cell research and H.R. 2560 on human cloning, are set for debate and vote.Regarding the stem cell bill, Cardinal Justin Rigali encouraged representatives "to reject this misguided and unethical legislation, which would force taxpayers for the first time to encourage deliberate attacks on innocent human life in the name of medical progress."Cardinal Rigali, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities, mentioned only...

Sydney, Jun 7, 2007 (CNA).- Catholic lawmakers in Australia said yesterday they will vote in favor of therapeutic cloning regardless of the directives or warnings issued by the archbishop of Sydney. Tony Stewart of the ruling Labor Party in the New South Wales state parliament, said he would rather go to hell than take orders on how to vote from Cardinal George Pell. "Maybe I'll go to hell, but if I go to hell I'm going to do so by saving a lot of lives, because that's what this bill is about," Tony Stewart said in a radio interview. Cardinal...

A STATE parliamentary committee will investigate Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey's remarks that Catholic politicians supporting stem cell research could be refused holy communion and may face excommunication from the church. Archbishop Hickey came under fire yesterday after he reportedly said Catholics who did not condemn the cloning of human embryos for medical research were acting against the teachings of the Catholic faith. Archbishop Hickey said such people should not go to communion and he may consider excommunication, but he would rather the issue be resolved voluntarily by the politicians themselves. His threat mirrored that of Cardinal George Pell in Sydney,...

Research reported this week by three different groups shows that normal skin cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic state in mice. The race is now on to apply the surprisingly straightforward procedure to human cells.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of Representatives will vote on Wednesday on a bill put forward by supporters of embryonic stem cell research that purportedly bans human cloning but doesn't. The measure would prohibit cloning for reproductive purposes but allow scientists to clone human beings for research.The vote came up at the last minute on Tuesday as backers of the bill hoped to sneak it on the legislative calendar without tipping off pro-life groups and opening up Congress to an avalanche of phone calls. National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson told LifeNews.com, ""The House Democratic leadership is...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of Representatives is scheduled to begin debate on a measure on Thursday to force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research. However, pro-life leaders on Capitol Hill tell LifeNews.com that a Wednesday vote could occur on a bill that pro-life advocates consider a phony human cloning ban. Americans strongly oppose human cloning and a new Gallup poll released today finds that 86 percent finding it morally wrong while just 11 percent say it's alright.While the details have not been confirmed and the Democratic leadership in the House has not affirmed that a vote will...

Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The California Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit filed by pro-life and taxpayers groups saying that the state's stem cell research agency is running afoul of oversight and accountability laws. The decision allows the agency to move forward with billions in grants for human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. The state's high court decided against reviewing a state appeals court ruling from February that upheld the legality of the state's multibillion dollar embryonic stem cell research program The appeals court had said the statewide ballot proposal and committee it created were legal despite a lawsuit saying...

February 23, 2007, 8:00 a.m. Troubled Iowa DreamsCaring to clone. By Richard M. Doerflinger For years the political campaign to allow human cloning for research purposes has paid only grudging attention to anything resembling a fact. Recent events in Iowa suggest that it is now fashionable to follow this campaign into a complete fantasy land. At issue is a February 14 Associated Press story from Iowa titled “Senate bill eases limits on stem cell research.” The reporter helpfully notes that the Iowa Senate has narrowly approved a bill that “Democrats say would ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research,”...

WASHINGTON - Milk from cloned cows is no longer welcome at the nation's biggest milk company. ADVERTISEMENT Although the government has approved meat and milk from cloned animals while it conducts further studies, Dean Foods Co. of Dallas said Thursday that its customers and consumers don't want milk from cloned animals. The $10 billion company owns Land O'Lakes and Horizon Organic, among dozens of other brands. "Numerous surveys have shown that Americans are not interested in buying dairy products that contain milk from cloned cows and Dean Foods is responding to the needs of our consumers," the company said in...

The nation's biggest milk company, Dean Foods, said Thursday it will refuse milk from cloned cows. The Food and Drug Administration gave preliminary approval to meat and milk from cloned animals and could grant final approval by the end of the year. Federal scientists say there is virtually no difference between clones and conventional cows, pigs or goats. Smaller companies such as Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Organic Valley previously have said they oppose milk from clones. Dallas-based Dean Foods is a $10 billion company that owns Land OLakes and Horizon Organic, among dozens of other brands. In a...

U.S. researchers said they have cloned mice using stem cells obtained from the rodents' skin, a new technique that could help researchers sidestep the ethical debates over embryonic stem-cell use. Stem cells have the unique ability to develop into any type of cell, and while scientists have known about adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells have always been considered more versatile. In human medical research, embryonic stem cells are seen as a powerful tool to fight diseases and replace diseased organs, but the use of embryonic stem cells has been controversial. What's unique about the stem cells uncovered in the...

The Iowa state Senate has approved a bill that would promote human cloning for research purposes. Backers of the bill say it would help promote embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of human life. "It's the beginning of human cloning," said Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby during the debate. "This is the first step on a slippery slope." Sen. David Hartsuch, a doctor, also opposed the bill. "A decent respect for human life and dignity requires that we continue to ban this clone and kill mentality," Hartsuch said. The Senate approved the measure on a 26-24 vote and...