WASHINGTON (LSN.ca) – On March 12, the nation's two largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organizations — the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (UOJCA), representing nearly 1,000 congregations, and the Rabbinical Council of America, whose membership consists of more than 1,000 rabbis — issued a joint statement entitled “Cloning Research, Jewish Tradition & Public Policy.”
The document explains that while “Our Torah tradition places great value upon human life … our tradition states that an embryo in vitro does not enjoy the full status of person-hood and its attendant protections.” In advocating cloning the document says, “if cloning technology research advances our ability to heal humans with greater success, it ought to be pursued since it does not require or encourage the destruction of life in the process.” It qualifies that the support for cloning humans is extended only to “cloning for therapeutic purposes — which ought to be pursued” and not to “cloning for reproductive purposes — which we oppose.”
See the complete document at:
www.ou.org/public/Publib/cloning.htm
(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)