Florida Judge Dismisses Petition on Alleged Clone

Reuters via Lycos.com ^ | 01/29/2003

[GeneD]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida judge dismissed a petition to appoint a state guardian for allegedly cloned baby "Eve" on Wednesday after the company that says it cloned the child stated the infant was in Israel.

Expressing skepticism that a cloned child even existed but concern for its welfare if it did, Juvenile Court Judge John Frusciante said his court had no jurisdiction in the case.

Frusciante dismissed the private citizen's petition after Clonaid President Brigitte Boisselier testified to the court in Fort Lauderdale that the child and her mother were in Israel and the baby had never been anywhere in the United States.

Clonaid, a company founded by the Raelian movement that believes mankind was created by extraterrestrials, announced a month ago it had produced the first cloned human, a baby girl called "Eve" born on Dec. 26 to an American mother.

Clonaid has produced no evidence for a cloned child, or for two other allegedly cloned children it says have been born since. Scientists widely believe the assertions are a hoax to make money or garner publicity for the Raelians.

Boisselier, a French-born chemist who is a member of the Raelians, would not say where in Israel the child was, adding she did not know as she was no longer in contact with the parents.

She also told the court that she had not seen the baby, although she had seen videotapes.

Bernard Siegel, a private citizen and attorney, filed the petition earlier this month asking for the state to appoint a guardian to supervise her care. He said that if "Eve" were indeed a cloned child she could face serious medical problems.

JUDGE'S CONCERNS ABOUT CLONING

In dismissing the case, Frusciante made plain his concerns about cloning, citing at one point President Bush's remarks during his State of the Union address on Tuesday in which Bush said no human should be started or ended as the object of an experiment and asked Congress to ban cloning.

Frusciante said that while the court "questions the credibility" of Clonaid's assertion it has produced a cloned human, he hoped the government and court system surrounding such a child would take an interest in its welfare. Clonaid, which made the initial announcement of "Eve's" birth at a hotel in Hollywood, Florida, backed away from its earlier promise to provide DNA proof of the cloning after Siegel filed his petition. The company, which does not reveal where it is located or anything about its finances, now says that it has deliberately cut links with "Eve's" parents to ensure their privacy.

The lawyers representing Clonaid had urged Frusciante to dismiss the petition. "The case was a preposterous case, there was no basis for it," attorney Jonathan Schwartz said after Wednesday's hearing.

But Siegel said he was glad he presented the petition even though it failed, not least because it had prompted Boisselier's testimony under oath that a cloned child existed and was in Israel.

He added he hoped the Florida Department of Children and Families, which had representatives in court on Wednesday, would alert the relevant authorities in Israel to the possibility of a child in need of protection.

[Orangedog]

Florida Department of Children and Families, which had representatives in court on Wednesday, would alert the relevant authorities in Israel to the possibility of a child in need of protection.

First, the whole "clone" thing is a fraud. Now, with that out of the way, I'm glad that the scum of the Earth (the Florida child-nazis and the lawyer who brought this petition to the court) could not steal another kid, even if it is an imaginary kid.

[Catspaw]

In Israel, huh? Why do I think that's a load of cow poop?