Russian Ministry of Health proposed a law prohibits human cloning, any use of embrionic stem cells and establishes complicated bureaucratic procedures for all aspects of cell technologies. A campaign to petition Russian Parliament that will soon consider the law was launched online by the Russian Transhumanist Movement.
http://community.liv...man/289258.html
The campaign started today and has already collected about 500 signatures. The post about this petition was the second most discussed post in the Russian blogs. Offline media, including radio Russian News Service picked up the story.
The full text of the proposed law (70 pages) is available online in Russian:
http://www.minzdravs...oc_projects/535
The law:
1. Blocks indefinitely (1.5.7) human cloning, replacing the temporary moratorium with a permanent ban.
2. Prohibits any use of embrionic stem cells that are a promising medical technology.
3. Introduces complex, but poorly definied overregulation of all aspects of cell therapy, from collection to donors to utilization. These therapies are very important for our future treatments, organ replacements, etc.
The "unified policy" that the law is supposed to maintain seems to be a policy of preventing a field of cell therapies from taking off and treating humans.
Why? Hard to tell, but partially to support the Church interests. Note in art. 19 "The experts in bioethics council can be doctors, scientists, educators and also representatives of public organisations, religious organisations and the media". Is that normal that representatives of religious organisations will sit in expert councils and decide on scientific topics? Will they also call shamans and witch-doctors?
We - transhumanists, members of the Russian Transhumanist Movement, are working on changes to the proposed draft of the law, we will send them and lobby for them. We might ask to stop the law alltogether. But the transhumanist public must state their position.
Please write in the comments to this post "I am against a ban on cloning and the use of embryonic cells, and for the simple and reasonable procedure in the regulation of this industry." Sign with your name.
