This chapter has three sections. The first section examines a methodological problem — how to describe and compare the evolution of national controversies. The second compares the evolution of embryo politics in the United States and France in the two decades before the stem cell and cloning breakthroughs. It traces the emergence of powerful religious (in the United States) and secular (in France) coalitions opposed to research. The third section shows how the promise of stem cell and cloning research undermined these coalitions and generated a more open debate marked by more diverse religious and secular voices in favor of liberal research regimes.
Keywords: stem cell research, cloning, United States, France, religion, embryo politics