Human cloning is on the ballot in Missouri.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Insidious science -- “science” that puts poor women at risk and pays them for their eggs; that toys with human embryos and then destroys them at will; that ushers in a host of experiments a Nazi could only dream of -- could very well become the status quo in America’s heartland.

Many intelligent citizens in Missouri will vote for Amendment 2 on Election Day because of propaganda and lies perpetrated in a massive media campaign by the proponents of the dark science -- proponents who stand to cash-in big time if the Amendment passes.

On the surface, Amendment 2 appears to be an eminently reasonable approach to cloning and stem cell research. According to the amendment itself, it’s designed “to ensure that Missouri patients have access to stem cell therapies and cures” and to guarantee “that all such research is conducted safely and ethically.” And it flatly states that “no person may clone or attempt to clone a human being.”

But voters in the “Show Me” state must take a closer look. A good place to start is with Missourians Against Human Cloning (MAHC), an alliance of many Missouri-based scientists, doctors, medical professionals and researchers. Their conclusion: Amendment 2 will actually give constitutional protection to the act of cloning human embryos.

And you felt uncomfortable with the mad science of Dolly the Sheep.

Consider the part of Amendment 2 that says “no person may clone or attempt to clone a human being.” In Section 6.2 of the initiative, we read:

“Clone or attempt to clone a human being” means to implant in a uterus or attempt to implant in a uterus anything other than the product of fertilization of an egg of a human female by a sperm of a human male for the purpose of initiating a pregnancy that could result in the creation of a human fetus, or the birth of a human being.

In short, the initiative would ban only the placement of a cloned embryo in a uterus, not cloning per se. This splicing of words was carefully crafted to trick voters into a false sense of security. The fact is, the language is specifically designed to allow, not ban, the cloning, experimentation on, and destruction of human embryos at will. Continued...