Human Cloning

5 Pages 1317 Words

Our habit of delighting in news of scientific and technological breakthroughs has been challenged by the birth announcement of a sheep named Dolly. During the last few years, scientists and theologians, physicians and legal experts, talk – radio hosts and editorial writers have been busily responding to the news. All of them raised fears and alarms about the prospect of cloning human beings. It is unethical to clone human beings because it is against God’s will, against nature’s creation system, and it has disastrous consequences.
Kass and Wlison (1998) consider that one set of ethical concerns about human clones involves the risks and uncertainties associated with the current state of cloning technology. This technology has not yet been tested with human subjects, and scientists cannot rule out the possibility of mutation or other biological damage. According to the NBAC report (National Bioethics Advisory Commission), it is morally unacceptable for anyone in the public or private sector to attempt to create a child using somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning. They also emphasize that any attempt to clone a human being would constitute an unethical experiment upon the resulting child-to-be. There are grave risks of misshapes and deformities.
The ethical issues of greatest importance in the cloning debate, however, do not involve possible failures of cloning technology, but rather the consequences of its success. The basic question would be, what concerns might there be about the welfare of clones?

Human Cloning 4
Lester and Hefley (1998) gave the following example, a child might be constantly compared to the adult from whom he was cloned, and therefore burdened with oppressive expectations. Even worse, the parents might actually limit the child’s opportunities for growth and development. The child will be burdened by the thought that he is a copy and not an original. The child’s sense of self-worth o...