DOCTORS FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH
It's a dog-bites-man story, but nonetheless significant. The American Medical Association has declared that "cloning for biomedical research is consistent with medical ethics," while recognizing "that physicians are free to decide whether to participate in this type of research or to use the products that result from this research."
The policy "makes a stance for science," Dr. Michael Goldrich, incoming chairman of the committee that drafted the report on which the new policy is based, told the Associated Press.
The policy emphasizes the physician's freedom of conscience. Media reports have portrayed that emphasis as a protection for those who oppose cell cloning--no physician will be ethically compelled to participate in a practice he or she deems morally wrong. True enough. But that isn't what the policy says. It says something much more sweeping: "An individual physician must remain free to decide to participate in this research."
In other words, neither Congress nor state legislatures should make this research a crime. Let's hope the AMA backs its policy with political clout.