'Utter Disregard for the Value and Dignity of Human Life': Lawmakers Slam Human-Animal Chimeras Grown in Test Tubes
Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to kill a Republican attempt to ban scientists from creating types of human-animal chimeras to be used in medical research.
Forbes Magazine reports Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) proposed the amendment to a technology bill. It failed in a vote of 49 to 48.
The proposed "Human-Animal Chimera Prohibition Act" (HR 3542/S.1800), which would prohibit research involving human-animal combinations that blur human-animal species distinctions.
*** Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
The Senate vote came after the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) issued new guidance on Thursday removing the longstanding prohibition against experimenting on human embryos more than two weeks past their creation and allowed the creation of chimeras that blur the line between human and animal.
"The ISSCR has shown an utter disregard for the value and dignity of human life," Smith said in a statement. "Its previous rule allowing scientists to create and experiment on human embryos up to 14 days was already unethical and morally repugnant, but the ISSCR has now removed all restraint, allowing unborn humans at any stage of development to be experimented on, manipulated, and destroyed."
"We also call on the Biden Administration to preserve the scientific integrity of our nation and ensure that the United States does not further weaken requirements protecting human embryos and requiring a strict code of ethical conduct from our scientists and researchers," he continued.
"The National Institutes of Health should not lift their moratorium on funding animal-human hybrid experiments, and further I believe such research is an affront to the sanctity of human life that should be outlawed," Braun said.
Appearing on CBN News' Faith Nation Wednesday, the senator said U.S. researchers have already tried to put human cells into mice in order to find therapeutic remedies for certain diseases.
"But to me, this brings up a whole range of ethical concerns," Braun said. "When you look at the sanctity of life in general, is that the domain of God or is that the domain of the laboratory? This is a place where we need to make a solid stand that enough is enough, and we don't go any further with it."
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) currently has a moratorium on funding experiments involving human-animal chimeras. On May 24, Smith and Braun sent a letter to the White House signed by 32 members of Congress urging the Biden administration not to weaken its stance on this important issue.
