Cloning Ban Hopes Downsized

Short on votes, a leading Senate opponent of human embryo cloning for medical research is scaling back a proposal to ban the technique.

Republican Sen. Sam Brownback told fellow party members on Tuesday he would advance a two-year moratorium rather than a permanent ban, according to several Republican lawmakers who attended the session. Senate debate on the issue could begin as early as this week.

Brownback's office declined to comment on the reports, relayed by Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, Sen. Arlen Specter and others.

"He stated he needed to go to a lesser standard" in hopes of gaining support, Specter said.

Ironically, Brownback relayed his intentions as President George W. Bush was reaffirming his opposition to human embryo cloning in a speech by satellite to the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis.

"We believe that a life is a creation, not a commodity, and that our children are gifts to be loved and protected, not products to be designed and manufactured by human cloning," the president said.

The issue has sparked intense debate, with advocates on one side arguing that cloned human embryos qualify as human life, not to be destroyed even for promising medical research on cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

It was unclear whether any proposal — the one supported by Brownback or an alternative that would allow medical research — would gain the 60 votes needed to overcome possible filibusters.

Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, an advocate of cloning for medical research, issued a statement critical of even a moratorium:

"A moratorium of a year or two may not seem like much to you and me, but it could mean the difference between life and death for a patient with Parkinson's disease, diabetes, cancer or many other serious disorders."