Kentucky doctor expects human pregnancy in cloning project by year's end

WASHINGTON - A Kentucky doctor said he expected to have made a woman pregnant with a cloned embryo by the end of the year as House members sought to nudge the Senate toward action on a cloning ban. <br> <br> &#34;This is no time for half measures,&#34; Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., said of a Senate bill that would ban reproductive cloning but allow cloning for research. &#34;We must pass an effective ban.&#34; <br> <br> The Senate has delayed until June its debate on whether to ban all cloning or allow the research exception. Aides estimate about 18 senators remain undecided. The House passed a bill banning all cloning last year. <br> <br> &#34;It will be nearly impossibly to prevent attempts at reproductive cloning once cloned human embryos are available in laboratories across this nation,&#34; Weldon said. <br> <br> His comments came during a House Government Reform subcommittee hearing Wednesday where Dr. Panayiotis Zavos of Lexington, Ky., told lawmakers that &#34;a pregnancy can take place this year.&#34; <br> <br> Zavos said he expects the pregnancy to happen at one of two clinics he runs in undisclosed locations outside the United States. He claims to have 12 couples from around the world who are candidates for the procedure. Some are Americans, Zavos said, and five couples include at least one physician each. <br> <br> &#34;This genie is out of the bottle and it keeps getting bigger by the hour,&#34; Zavos said. &#34;There is no way that this genie is going back into the bottle. Let us find ways to develop it properly and disseminate it safely.&#34; <br> <br> Zavos made similar predictions to have a human clone within months during a congressional appearance last year. <br> <br> &#34;By banning cloning, America will be showing the world that she is hesitant and/or reluctant to take the lead in this new arena of technological advancement,&#34; Zavos said. <br> <br> Lawmakers on both sides of the debate have maintained that they are against what Zavos wants to do: implant a cloned embryo into a woman to produce a baby. <br> <br> Those pushing to allow cloning for research have argued the procedure could lead to cures for an array of diseases. Opponents argue that a cloned embryo is a human even before implantation in a womb, and to destroy it for research would be immoral. <br> <br> The Justice Department issued a statement at the hearing arguing that allowing cloning for research would cause numerous problems. <br> <br> For instance, it is unclear how the government would punish a woman that illegally received a cloned embryo, Daniel Bryant, an assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, wrote to the committee. <br> <br> &#34;Once a pregnancy were established,&#34; Bryant said, &#34;any government-directed attempt to terminate a cloned embryo in utero would create problems enormous and complex.&#34; <br> <br>