Carol Tobias, NRLC president
Federal law now recognizes the humanity of the unborn child in yet another way as research scientists are now banned under U.S. patent law from taking out a patent on a human being they create in the lab.
National Right to Life played a key role in getting a ban on the patenting of human beings in the new patent law.
A patent is a government-conferred property right that gives an inventor exclusive rights to manufacture or use his invention for a defined period, usually 20 years. The patent holder can license others to employ his patent for a fee, called a royalty.
Early in the year, when it became clear that Congress was likely to take up a sweeping revision of the patent laws, NRLC insisted on inclusion of language to codify (make permanent) a previously enacted temporary prohibition on any patents being issued on human embryos.
Some scientists and the companies they work for want to clone or create “experimental human beings” that they can experiment on and perhaps earn profits from. (more…)
