Legal Beat
Judge Pamela Dembe dismissed all criminal charges against the “Philadelphia Four” on February 17. Charges against seven others were previously dismissed. The four, members of the evangelistic group Repent America, were arrested during a gay-rights fest after using megaphones to proclaim Scripture verses against homosexuality. Joe Infranco of the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the defendants, said the arrests were “an outrageous abuse of power to silence speech that some people didn’t like.”
Cloning Developments
Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep in 1997, in February received British government permission to clone human embryos to study motor-neuron disease, which kills cells that control movement in the brain and spinal cord. Wilmut and colleagues propose to clone embryos from people who already have the disease. Cloning for research has been legal in the United Kingdom since 2001. In a statement, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said, “Society should not create a caste system of lesser humans to be used for scientific sacrifice. If helping patients is the true aim, adult stem cells continue to show the real promise.” However, days later, a United Nations legal panel voted 71-35 (with 43 abstentions) for a complete ban on human cloning. The issue now goes to the General Assembly for a vote on a nonbinding resolution.
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Related Elsewhere:
CT’s coverage of the “Philadelphia four” includes:
Muzzled Speech | Christians tried for anti-gay preaching. (Feb. 08, 2005)
Weblog: ‘Philadelphia Four’ Anti-Gay Preaching Case Dismissed | Michael Marcavage becomes just another guy with a bullhorn. (Feb. 17, 2005)
CT’s coverage of Åke Green includes:
No Free Speech in Preaching | Swedish pastor sentenced to jail for blasting homosexuality. (Aug. 09, 2004)
Weblog: Åke Green’s Hate Speech Conviction Overturned | Swedish court says sermon against homosexuality is free speech (Feb. 11, 2005)
News elsewhere about Ian Wilmut’s cloning research includes:
Ian Wilmut: Human Cloner | How the man who created Dolly the sheep slid down the slippery slope to human reproductive cloning. (Weekly Standard, Feb. 16, 2005)
There is nothing outrageous or immoral about human cloning | This month Ian Wilmut won a licence to clone embryos for research into motor neurone disease (MND). No sooner had he done so, the critics were out, denouncing his work as “Frankensteinian”. (Times, London, Feb. 19, 2005)
Dolly expert is to clone embryos | The creator of Dolly the sheep has been granted a licence to clone human embryos for medical research. (BBC, Feb. 8 2005)
Attack of the Clones | Dolly’s creators say their new licence to clone human embryos could lead to a cure for motor neurone disease. But pro-life groups insist it’s an unethical bid to cash in (Sunday Herald, UK, Feb 12, 2005)
News about the UN human cloning ban includes:
U.N. panel backs anti-cloning resolution | A bitterly divided U.N. committee approved a resolution calling on nations to ban all forms of human cloning incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life. (Associated Press, Feb. 23, 2005)
Britain to defy UN over therapeutic cloning ban | The British government is to defy a United Nations call to ban therapeutic cloning, arguing that it will not be press-ganged into giving up its world-leading position on stem-cell research. (Scotsman, UK, Feb 26, 2005)
U.N. Panel Backs Plea for Human Cloning Ban | A deeply divided General Assembly committee adopted on Friday a nonbinding declaration calling on governments to prohibit all forms of human cloning including techniques used in research on human stem cells. (Reuters, Feb 18, 2005)
