Send in the clones? We'll see.

After Sept. 11, many important issues were brushed aside by more pressing matters. The implications of one such issue, human cloning, are so profound that it cannot be ignored much longer.\nResearchers at Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts Nov. 25, 2001, were the first to clone a human embryo, sparking debate about the legal and moral dimensions of cloning. Clearly, human cloning is an extraordinarily complicated matter. By virtue of that fact alone, it deserves careful deliberation and public dialogue so any permanent legislation truly reflects the considered will of the people.\nThe dialogue has just begun. In California, a panel of experts commissioned by the state recommended that California ban cloning that would result in the birth of a child (reproductive cloning). The panel also unanimously recommended that California regulate, but not ban, therapeutic cloning. A National Academy of Sciences panel reached a similar conclusion last Friday. \nThese experts' findings indicate that only careful reasoning supported by sound science, not emotional reactionism, will deal adequately with this issue.\nIn that context, it's disappointing that the Indiana Senate passed a bill last Thursday (S.B. 138) that would criminalize all human cloning indefinitely. S.B. 138 makes no distinction between reproductive and therapeutic cloning, illustrating how little Indiana senators know or care about the nuances of this issue. \nThe potential benefits of therapeutic cloning are striking. Cloned cells could be used to replace damaged or diseased heart, liver, lung, kidney, brain and spinal cord cells. Cloning technology could lead to cures or treatments for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and heart disease. There is hardly a more promising technology.\nReproductive cloning, on the other hand, offers no such benefits. It's also dangerous, morally questionable and difficult to regulate. It is a great mistake to equate the two, as the Indiana Senate has.\nFortunately, however, it's unlikely that the flawed S.B. 138 will become law this session. Governor Frank O'Bannon's spokesman Andrew Stoner said that this issue is "not a priority."\n"Our focus now is on the budget," he said.\nHouse Majority Floor Leader Mark Kruzan (D-Bloomington) told me last week he believes "A medically-based, not a politically-driven one, should be made by the legislature. That's why I hope the House does not consider S.B. 138 this year."\nWith the governor's office disinterested, wise legislators like Rep. Kruzan will probably prevail this session. \nEven so, the General Assembly will be forced by the pace of technology to deal with human cloning soon. It should begin preparing now. Since there are serious questions regarding the safety and morality of reproductive cloning, the General Assembly should pass and Gov. O'Bannon should sign a three-year moratorium on planting a cloned human embryo in a womb. Such a plan would preclude the attempted creation of a cloned human without impeding the development of cures and treatments for myriad human ailments. During the moratorium, they should commission a panel of experts to study the issue in depth and recommend permanent action. This way, permanent decisions are deferred until the facts are clearer.\nPoliticians' reluctance to touch these issues is understandable -- few topics provoke more controversy and uncertainty than human cloning. This is surely not an issue where politicians will pick up loads of votes. Be that as it may, these are precisely the kinds of difficult issues with which our representatives are paid to deal.