WHEN IS A CLONE not a clone, and an embryo not an embryo? When the biotech lobby wants to persuade Americans that creating a cloned embryo and then destroying it for the sake of medical experimentation should be allowed.

Last night, on TV’s fictional “West Wing,” the fictional “Harry and Louise”–stars of the famous ads against the Clinton health care plan–returned to the small screen. The new Harry and Louise ads are sponsored by CuresNow, a Hollywood-based group opposed to a ban on cloning. The ads resolutely refuse to acknowledge that the argument is about the status of cloned embryos: “What’s with this stem cell research debate?” asks Harry. The real answer, of course, is that there’s no debate about adult stem cell research (except the refusal of cloning and embryonic stem cell enthusiasts to acknowledge how promising adult stem cell research seems to be). What’s more, there’s no current debate about federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, a question at least temporarily resolved by the president’s decision last August. The current legislative debate is about whether or not to allow the creation of cloned embryos for medical research. But “embryo” is a word you won’t find in the TV ads.