Eric Cohen

Dr. West and Mr. Bin Laden

Articles — Mon, 17 Dec 2001 00:00:00 -0500

In testimony before the Senate last July, Dr. Michael West, president of Advanced Cell Technology and lead scientist on the team that recently cloned the first human embryos, quoted Scripture:

As the Apostle Paul said: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (I Cor. 13:11) In the same way, it is absolutely a matter of life and death that policymakers in the United States carefully study the facts of human embryology and stem cells. A child's understanding… more

Should Human Cloning Be Allowed? No, It's a Moral Monstrosity

Articles — Wed, 05 Dec 2001 00:00:00 -0500

Dr. Michael West, the lead scientist on the team that recently cloned the first human embryos, believes his mission in life is "to end suffering and death." "For the sake of medicine," he informs us, "we need to set our fears aside." For the sake of health, in other words, we need to overcome our moral inhibitions against cloning and eugenics.

The human cloning announcement was not a shock. We have been "progressing" down this road for years, while averting our gaze from the destination. Now we have cloned human embryos. That means that women's eggs were procured, their genetic material… more

The Looming Fights That Unity Conceals

Articles — Sun, 04 Nov 2001 00:00:00 -0500

There are two basic theories about how Sept. 11 will change U.S. politics and culture.

The first one contends that the terrorist attacks have transformed everything. Old debates and loyalties are now irrelevant. The red-and-blue divide of the 2000 elections is obsolete. The culture wars are over--or at least on permanent hold. The frivolousness of the 1990s--the age of Clintonism, stock options and reality TV--has given way to a new sense of reality, seriousness and national unity. Politics have been replaced by patriotism. The second theory holds that Sept. 11 and the war against terrorism will bring old divides into… more

God, Science, and American Politics

Communications — Wed, 17 Oct 2001 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/17/2001 - 12:00pm

When was the last time religious, moral, or social considerations triumphed over science? How will the culture war over stem cells and human cloning change the face of American politics? Is the American experiment -- the idea that God and progress would never clash beyond compromise -- on the brink of extinction? Can technology be stopped even if the democratic majority wanted to stop it? Join us for what is sure to be a lively discussion.

Cloning, Stem Cells, and Beyond

Articles — Mon, 13 Aug 2001 06:00:00 -0400

Last week's vote in the House to ban human cloning is something to celebrate. It may even be something momentous. The House passed, by 265 to 162, a bill sponsored by representative Dave Weldon of Florida that would ban the creation of all human clones. It rejected an alternative sponsored by Pennsylvania representative James Greenwood, and backed by the biotech lobby, that would have allowed the creation of cloned human embryos to be used for medical research and then destroyed.

The Greenwood forces had corporate money and much of enlightened opinion behind them. They over-promised, misled, and demagogued, claiming,… more

Bush's Stem-Cell Ruling: A Missouri Compromise

Articles — Sun, 12 Aug 2001 00:00:00 -0400

Only a sage could have predicted that President Bush's first major decision would be about federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. For the first few months of his presidency, most people expected stem cells to be a one-day story--like federal funding of overseas abortion clinics--with the usual histrionics on both the cultural right and left. But this was not to be.

The issue of stem cells struck a national nerve, bringing into sharp relief deep divides about right and wrong, life and death, and the meaning and source of human dignity. It introduced, in embryonic form, what may turn out… more

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Articles — Mon, 30 Jul 2001 00:00:00 -0400

There have been two prominent responses to the news that the Jones Institute in Virginia is creating human embryos simply to harvest their stem cells: concern and outrage.

Mark Warner, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, is concerned. Asked in the governor's debate last week if he believes Virginia should ban all in-state research on embryonic stem cells, he replied: "In terms of banning all such research, no. I saw the report from the Jones Institute this week, and it troubled me that they're creating stem cells there. And I've asked for a briefing. I think we need to hear… more

Of Missile Defense and Stem Cells

Articles — Mon, 16 Jul 2001 00:00:00 -0400

Among the issues in American politics that inspire the most ideological fervor these days, stem cells and missile defense are at the top of the list. Missile defense has a long history: To conservative Republicans, it is a fixture of the Reagan legacy, … more

Thanks for the Megabytes

Articles — Sun, 01 Jul 2001 00:00:00 -0400

Urban uplift has gone through many phases in the last few decades -- from the militant community empowerment experiments of the 1960s, to the large-scale government housing projects of the 1970s, to the new public-private partnerships of the 1980s and 1990s. The latest enthusiasm is "technological empowerment" -- symbolized nowhere more clearly than Edgewood Terrace in Northeast Washington, D.C., which has achieved that peculiar status of the famous left-behind community.

The drive down Rhode Island Avenue to Edgewood Terrace is, in a word, depressing -- rows of degraded houses, schools with boarded-up windows, half-abandoned community centers, pawn shops and multiple… more

Knock Off the Cloning

Articles — Mon, 18 Jun 2001 00:00:00 -0400

After a failed effort to ban human cloning in 1998, Congress has taken up the issue once again. There have been hearings in both the House and the Senate, testimony from fertility doctors and cult leaders who want to clone human beings, and heavy… more