Dear Colleague,A report in the Friday Fax two weeks ago has caused a firestorm of controversy on the floor of the Bundestag (German parliament). Christian Democratic members of the German parliament are aggressively challenging their government’s position on cloning at the UN after intemperate remarks by the chief German negotiator. These remarks have backfired and may bolster the United States, Spain and Philippines resolution for a comprehensive ban on cloning.
Spread the Word.
Yours Sincerely,
Austin Ruse
PresidentAction Item: all Germans must contact their parliamentary representatives to press for a comprehensive ban on cloning, especially those in parliament from the Green and Social Democrat parties. (To find your member of parliament, go to www.bundestag.de)
FRIDAY FAX
October 18, 2002 Volume 5, Number 43
German Delegate Doubts Morality of US Position on Cloning
In a rare breach of United Nations protocol, the German delegate to UN negotiations on human cloning called the United States position in favor of a comprehensive ban on all human cloning “morally questionable.” According to an article published by the Berlin-based Catholic News Agency (KNA), the German legal adviser to the UN, Christian Müch, claimed that “the US side gains nothing in the end through their ‘all or nothing’ approach. He asserts that this ‘maximum demand’ is ‘morally questionable,’ because the chance for at least a quick ban on reproductive cloning would be lost.”
The official German and French position calls for a partial international ban on cloning, one that would outlaw the cloning of human beings for live-birth purposes, but remains silent on the cloning of human beings to be used and destroyed in medical experiments. The Germans have argued that a partial ban is necessary in order to avert imminent live-birth cloning, and that a ban on cloning for experimental purposes can be discussed at a later date.
However, according to the KNA report, some observers doubt the motivation of the German delegation. These critics contend that the German government may be seeking “liberal international agreements” on cloning in order to “undermine” its own national legislation, which outlaws all human cloning, including cloning for experimental purposes.
This suspicion seemed to be bolstered by a statement made by Müch during evening negotiations two weeks ago and first reported in the September 27 Friday Fax. In that meeting, Müch claimed that calling for a total ban, so that humans could not be cloned for medical research, exhibited a refusal to help people, and is therefore a crime under German law. Besides deeply offending other delegates, Müch’s remarks appeared to endorse the validity of cloning for experimental purposes.
This statement has created a controversy in Germany. Christian Democratic politicians have raised official parliamentary inquiries seeking clarification of the German position. One inquiry asks “is it true…as the ‘Friday Fax,’ distributed by the New York-based C-FAM reports…that [Müch] stated that the demand for a comprehensive ban on cloning which would also ban cloning for medical and research purposes, would be equivalent to a refusal to help and would be in conflict with German law, and what is the Federal Government’s judgment of this statement?” In response, Müch claims that he has been misunderstood.
Christian Democratic politicians wonder why Germany does not endorse a total ban on cloning, such as the proposal made by the United States, Spain and the Philippines, and co-sponsored by over 25 other nations, which would correspond to already-existing German law. Hubert Hüppe, a member of the German parliament and vice chairman of the parliamentary study commission on the law and ethics of modern medicine, told the Friday Fax that “The position of the German law is clear. The Embryo Protection Act bans all cloning in Germany. So we are very concerned about the reports we hear about the German delegation’s actions at the UN.”
Copyright – C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
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