Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - A "bipartisan" group of senators has formed to introduce a bill they say would ban human reproductive cloning, but allow so-called "therapeutic cloning" for scientific research. Opponents call that characterization "hogwash."

"We are preparing now for a vote, which may occur before Memorial Day, where a very, very important issue will be presented. And that is whether the hands of the scientist will be tied and whether nuclear transplants - so-called 'therapeutic cloning' - will be criminalized," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), co-sponsor of the legislation.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), another co-sponsor of the bill, says opponents have "created a fog of confusion" about the proposal.

"We must not let the misplaced fears of today deny patients the cures of tomorrow," he said. "We have placed patients over ideology many times in the past, and this bipartisan legislation will allow us to do the same again today."

Supporters of the Kennedy-Specter-Feinstein bill claim the research allowed under their bill "may yield cures for paralysis, cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's," and many other diseases and conditions.

"This is pretty close to hogwash," said Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.), a physician who regularly treats patients with many of those diseases and conditions.

"It's highly speculative and, in my opinion, quite questionable, quite dubious that there would ever be any clinical applications of this technology," he said.

Weldon also challenges Kennedy's claim that the bill would allow "therapeutic cloning," but outlaw human cloning.

"It's talking about the same thing, but putting a different label on it for political purposes," Weldon said. "What they're trying to do is say 'this is not really a human clone,' but from a biological perspective, from a scientific perspective, it is."

Dr. Thomas Cech, who won the 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research into molecular biology, believes scientists can ethically draw a distinction between a living human cell and a living human being.

"Whether a single, fertilized egg is a human being becomes a question that philosophers and theologians discuss but certainly, it does not - and this is what is key to me in my own thinking about the ethics of this - it does not have the ability to develop into a human being unless it is implanted into a uterus," he argued.

But Ken Connor, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative pro-family advocacy group, says Chec's contention is "morally bankrupt."

"I don't think members of Congress ought to be deceived by false and fraudulent arguments," he said, "and lending the gloss of a Nobel laureate to the position doesn't add any weight to the logic.

Connor says, no matter what wording is used, the Kennedy-Specter-Feinstein bill would allow the cloning of "embryonic human beings."

"They are creating an underclass of sub-humans, if you will, whose parts can be cannibalized and scavenged for the benefit of others," he concluded. "Merely denying the existence of the humanity of a human being doesn't negate its humanity or its existence."

Supporters of the legislation have tried to sway some opponents by including fines and jail time in the law for any scientist who attempts to clone a "complete human being."

"All of us abhor human reproductive cloning," Specter said, "and agree that it should be banned."

The bill mandates a minimum $1 million fine and up to ten years in prison for any scientist who tries to bring a cloned human being to full development.

But Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, says it would be impossible to prevent full human cloning if the Kennedy-Specter-Feinstein proposal becomes law.

"Once the cloned human embryos are made ... they look like any other human embryo. You can't tell the difference between a human embryo created by in vitro fertilization and one created by cloning," he explained. "So really, once you've opened the flood gates, there isn't any way to stop it."

Even Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who supports the bill, admits it would be impossible to completely prevent cloning of a complete human being.

"There are always crazy people out there and nothing's going to stop them," he conceded. "We hope by passing this legislation it will set the terms and people understand there's some real consequences if they violate the law."

Johnson says, matter-of-factly that, "nothing like this bill will become law."

"It won't become law because it's the Greenwood amendment that the House rejected," he explained, "and the president has rejected this approach unequivocally."

The pro-life organizations opposed to the Kennedy-Specter-Feinstein bill are supporting the Human Cloning Prohibition Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

The bill is essentially identical to Weldon's H.R. 2505, which passed the House last summer. It would prohibit any person or entity engaged in interstate commerce from knowingly:

• performing or attempting to perform human cloning;
• participating in such an attempt;
• shipping or receiving an embryo produced by human cloning or any product derived from such embryo; or
• importing such an embryo or product.

"In many ways, we're drawing the line here," Weldon said, describing the bill, "and saying we don't want to start creating human lives in the lab for research purposes."