Missouri Pro-Life Advocates Not Giving Up on Fight Human Cloning Law 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 14, 2007
Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) — Pro-life advocates in Missouri may have lost one battle last year on a statewide constitutional amendment that legalized all forms of human cloning. But they’re not giving up the fight entirely and could come back next year with an effort to close the loopholes in the amendment.
By the slimmest of margins, Missouri voters approved the constitutional amendment on a 50-49 vote.
While it was designed to promote embryonic stem cell research, which involves the destruction of human life for stem cells, opponents say the amendment promoted cloning.
They said it promoted both reproductive and research cloning even though the backers of the amendment, funded almost exclusively by the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, claimed it only supported research cloning.
"We think it’s a false distinction to say that a clone exists only based on geography," Pam Fichter, president of Missouri Right to Life, told the New York Times about the misleading statements made by amendment backers.
Fichter said her group supports "ethical stem cell research, and we think cloning was misrepresented to voters. We know that a majority of Missourians oppose cloning.
Meanwhile, Jaci Winship, executive director of Missourians Against Human Cloning, told the Times her group will consider a ballot proposal next year to fix some of the pro-cloning problems of last year’s amendment.
Members of her group and Missouri Right to Life have been gathering signatures and contributions for a possible campaign. Until then, they have been successful in stymieing some of the research and Stowers, this summer, stopped a planned expansion.
Related web sites:
Missouri Right to Life – https://www.missourilife.org
Missourians Against Human Cloning – https://www.nocloning.org
