Cloning Ban Edited To Allow Stem-Cell Research

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CN) - The Missouri Secretary of State used "insufficient and unfair" language when describing a ballot initiative to amend a ban on human cloning to allow stem-cell research, the state appeals court ruled.

Judge Hardwick found that Secretary of State Robin Carnahan improperly used the word "repeal" in a ballot issue that would amend The Stem Cell Research and Cures Act, which bans human cloning.

Carnahan's language said the ballot initiative would "repeal the current ban on human cloning" in Missouri. Hardwick ruled that the language was misleading.

Instead, Hardwick corrected the language to read "redefining the ban on human cloning."

The plaintiffs, led by a group called Cures Without Cloning, said Carnahan violated their free-speech rights with her action, but Hardwick ruled that their constitutional claims were not ripe for consideration, because the ballot initiative process is not yet complete.

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