Bills receive mixed response

Two new bills in the State Legislature have respectively evoked objection and applause from the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops in public policy matters:

* A bill touted as banning human cloning in New York for the next five years would instead allow it as long as it did not lead to a live birth, thus letting scientists create, experiment on and then destroy human embryos, noted Catholic Conference associate director Kathleen Gallagher.

Introduced by Sen. John Marchi (R-Staten Island), the bill claims to "give New York time to weigh the implications of human cloning and...deal with the ethical considerations involved."

Mrs. Gallagher countered that the moratorium would "actually provide incentive to the scientific community" to clone and experiment on embryos "so long as they are sure to destroy those little ones, because the law wouldn't allow them to turn into born human beings."

The debate mirrors similar efforts on the federal level, she said, citing President Clinton's agreement to "ban" cloning but allow for the manufacture and destruction of embryos by scientists.

While the Conference is working with Senator Marchi and other state lawmakers to make clear the ramifications of passing the cloning bill, Mrs. Gallagher added that she hopes to see a genuine ban on cloning introduced instead.

* In contrast, a victory for the free-speech rights of pro-life protesters brought applause from the Catholic Conference.

The "anti-stalking" bill passed by the Senate Feb. 2 had originally proposed penalizing those who intimidated abortion clinic staff and clients. The October murder of abortionist Dr. Barnett Slepian was cited as an example of stalking that could have been stopped had the proposed law existed. However, the anti-stalking bill that passed by a 58-0 vote in the Senate did not include special protection for abortion providers and seekers.

Mrs. Gallagher called the Catholic Conference "extremely pleased that the Senate has thus far said `no' to the dangerous clinic access proposals being put forth, including the Governor's. We're hopeful that the Senate will remain firm in its belief that sufficient laws are in place and it is discriminatory to target solely the pro-life viewpoint."

The Conference is still examining whether the anti-stalking proposal that did pass will affect the activities of peaceful pro-life protesters, but Mrs. Gallagher said she found the bill better than a recent proposal passed by the State Assembly to make abortion protesters liable to civil and criminal charges (see The Evangelist's Feb. 4 issue).

(02-11-99) [[In-content Ad]]