WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives, racing to keep pace with the speed of science, voted handily Tuesday to ban all forms of human cloning. The 265-162 vote to criminalize cloning capped a day of emotional debate on biotechnology, ethics and morality. The bill was backed by 200 Republicans, 63 Democrats and two independents. The House defeated a rival proposal that would have blocked cloning intended to produce a human baby but permitted it for research into possible cures for diseases.
"This House should not be giving the green light to mad scientists to tinker with the gift of life," said Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla. "Cloning is an insult to humanity. It is science gone crazy."
Rep. James Greenwood, R-Pa., sponsor of the rival measure, said the ban "goes over the top" and would hinder research. He called it "backward" and "unscientific." The ban now heads to the Senate, which rejected a ban in 1998.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Tuesday that he is "opposed to the effort to clone under virtually any circumstances." But a spokesman for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., sponsor of a bill to ban cloning, said Daschle has done little to advance the bill.
The debate took place as President Bush, who supports the ban, continued to consider another issue: whether to permit federal funding of research on stem cells derived from human embryos.
Proponents say embryonic stem-cell research could help produce cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Opponents say the destruction of a human embryo is the destruction of a life.
Bush praised the House action. "We must advance the promise and cause of science, but must do so in a way that honors and respects life," he said.
Opponents of the cloning ban said it would make stem-cell research more difficult and probably less fruitful. However, many supporters of stem-cell research voted for the cloning ban.
The bill would provide for a $1 million fine and a 10-year prison term for anyone practicing cloning in the United States or importing cloned products. A ban would put U.S. law in line with 29 European nations.
Cloning manipulates the fertilization process to create an embryo that is the genetic copy of an already-existing human. To clone a mammal, scientists transfer the nucleus from an adult cell into a donor egg cell from which the nuclear material has been removed. The tiny mass is then stimulated with a mild electric shock that causes the cell to begin dividing .
Scientists first used the process in 1997, when a Scottish sheep named Dolly was born to a surrogate mother from an embryo cloned from an adult cell.
No examples of human cloning are known to exist. But last month, Advanced Cell Technology, a commercial lab in Worcester, Mass., announced plans to recruit donors for cloning experiments.