In a surprise turnabout, Sen. Jim Talent withdrew his support Friday for a controversial ban on human cloning and offered what he said was a compromise proposal that would heal the deep divide over stem cell research.
Talent's move puts him smack in the middle of a growing Republican rift in Missouri over stem cell research and represents a shift in his position on an issue that has become increasingly prominent in his 2006 re-election contest.
Talent, R-Mo., said Congress is "deadlocked" over the federal human cloning ban - a bill he has co-sponsored for the last four years. He said his alternative, which he is still developing, would fund a newly emerging technology that has the potential to avoid the destruction of embryos - and break the long-simmering political stalemate.
But his carefully crafted proposal didn't satisfy either camp in the volatile debate.
"We're very, very disappointed with his decision today," said Sam Lee, of Campaign Life Missouri, an anti-abortion group. "I think he is being advised that this is a political hot potato that he needs to get rid of, and I think it's bad advice."
Backers of stem cell research say the new technology Talent is promoting - called altered nuclear transfer - is far from proven and could drain support for the more promising traditional stem cell research.
His Democratic opponent, Claire McCaskill, was quick to jump on his announcement.
"People who are ill deserve hope and not political cover," she said. "Missourians want clarity and convictions on issues like this ... He's trying to be all things to all people instead of being principled."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/A25A1F91FC34B3C486257112002668EF?OpenDocumentFlip-flopper.
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