When social critic Jeremy Rifkin predicted the coming of the “biotechcentury” in 1998, few understood just how right he was. Consider howfar biotechnology has traveled since the birth of Dolly the clonedsheep and how these discoveries have impacted the ethics of society:Human cloning is being pursued aggressively, animals are beinggenetically engineered, and a new eugenics has arisen in which embryosare destroyed if they exhibit “undesirable” attributes—ranging fromtheir sex to the potential of adult onset cancer.

Meanwhile, on the other end of life, “death with dignity” activistscontinue to push their agendas, including legalizing assistedsuicide/euthanasia, futile care theory (which permits doctors to refusewanted life-sustaining treatment based on quality of lifeassessments), and the dehydration of people with severe cognitiveincapacities.

Behind these discreet issues is a farlarger—one might even say epochal—struggle to preserve thesanctity/equality of human life ethic. Look for these issues to be themajor flash points of this never-ending contest in 2007, with mypredictions about the likely outcomes:

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: I predict that President Bush”s Federal Funding limitations will fall.With the new more liberal Congress and the erosion of resistance amongsome conservatives, legislation to overturn the President”s policy willrepeatedly pass both houses of Congress. Bush will veto. But eventuallythe bill will be made part of omnibus legislation, as a consequence ofwhich the veto will be overridden.

I also predict more states will fund ESCR and human research cloning. BigBiotech”s propaganda campaign has created an Oklahoma Land Racementality among the states that are now competing with each other tothrow money at biotech companies. This trend will continue in thecoming year.

Human Cloning: I predict continued impasse over outlawing or legalizing human cloning. Effortsto outlaw all human cloning at the federal level will not succeed.Neither will efforts to legalize research cloning, while outlawing”reproductive” cloning. The latter has a better chance of passing thanthe former, but if this happens, the President”s veto will not be overturned.

Meanwhile, on the other end of life, “death with dignity” activistscontinue to push their agendas, including legalizing assistedsuicide/euthanasia, futile care theory (which permits doctors to refusewanted life-sustaining treatment based on quality of lifeassessments), and the dehydration of people with severe cognitiveincapacities.

Behind these discreet issues is a farlarger—one might even say epochal—struggle to preserve thesanctity/equality of human life ethic. Look for these issues to be themajor flash points of this never-ending contest in 2007, with mypredictions about the likely outcomes:

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: I predict that President Bush”s Federal Funding limitations will fall.With the new more liberal Congress and the erosion of resistance amongsome conservatives, legislation to overturn the President”s policy willrepeatedly pass both houses of Congress. Bush will veto. But eventuallythe bill will be made part of omnibus legislation, as a consequence ofwhich the veto will be overridden.

I also predict more states will fund ESCR and human research cloning. BigBiotech”s propaganda campaign has created an Oklahoma Land Racementality among the states that are now competing with each other tothrow money at biotech companies. This trend will continue in thecoming year.

Human Cloning: I predict continued impasse over outlawing or legalizing human cloning. Effortsto outlaw all human cloning at the federal level will not succeed.Neither will efforts to legalize research cloning, while outlawing”reproductive” cloning. The latter has a better chance of passing thanthe former, but if this happens, the President”s veto will not beoverturned.

Outlawing Human Egg Markets: I predict more states and countries will outlaw the buying and selling of human eggs. Even though many in society have little concern about the destruction of embryos, many do careabout the exploitation of women. As groups like the CBC spread the wordthat egg procurement is dangerous to women”s health, efforts to outlawthe buying and selling of eggs will enjoy increasing success.

Assisted Suicide: I predict no states or countries will legalize in 2007.Euthanasia activists will try to legalize assisted suicide inCalifornia, Washington, Vermont, and Hawaii. Also, look for continuedagitation in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and India. None ofthese proposals will pass in 2007. However, watch out for sleeperlegalization effort that could succeed in Spain.

Futile Care Theory: I predict the Texas law permitting futile care impositions to be amended.Legislation to outlaw futile care impositions by hospital ethicscommittees will not pass in Texas due to resistance by the medicalestablishment. But the current 10 days allowed patients and families tofind a new hospital will be extended, probably to around 30 days.

Partial Birth Abortion: I predict that the Supreme Court of the United States will overturn the partial birth abortion federal ban: JusticeAnthony Kennedy will cast the deciding vote reversing his earlier standagainst partial birth abortion by voting to overturn the federal ban.For the pro life movement, it will be back to the drawing board,perhaps focusing on parental notification statutes at the state andfederal levels.

I might be right or wrong about eachor all of the above forecasts. But here is one final prediction aboutwhich I am supremely confident: The CBC will continue to fight foruniversal human rights by remaining committed to the profoundunderstanding that human life has intrinsic value simply and merelybecause it is human.

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