ethical problems with cloning: reproductive cloning

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Nuremberg Code (which was instituted after the Second World

War) in this connection: “No experiment should be conducted (on

human beings) where there is a clear reason to believe that death or

a disabling injury will occur”. (For more quotes from the Declaration of

Helsinki, see annexure 1)

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Ethical problems with cloning: Reproductive

Cloning

In other words, what are the ethical problems we have with making another person exactly like

your self.

1.     The state of the art in research cannot guarantee

successful cloning of normal human beings. So they will

still have to do a lot of experiments and in the

process kill many people (embryos) in order to perfect

the technique.

2)   It would be open to abuse by criminals and tyrants and

dictators.

4)    Another problem with reproductive cloning is the psychological effect it would have on the cloned person. The expectations placed upon such a cloned child may be too much to bear. Here the tyrannical nature of the

act is exposed: the prospects that the cloned child would be expected to be like the parent are even

stronger than a child born by pro-creation; such a child will not only be like the parent, but virtually an exact copy of the parent. Consequently the choice to be or not to be like the parent is destroyed. The child may have very little choice and there will be much more pressure on him/her to loose his/her individuality.

5)    The last problem one would have with reproductive cloning is that this child will loose

his/her individual uniqueness. This is characteristic of all other human beings in the world - they are all unique. To quote from the

Midrash: “The king stamps the coin; all the coins are the same. But the King of Kings

makes each one of us unique”. That distinctive appearance is a visible sign of the uniqueness

of the individual; it is the visible sign of the never-to-be-repeated life.

Ethical problems with cloning: Therapeutic

cloningYou are experimenting in the wrong way with human beings and killing

them to help others

Ethical problems with genetic engineering: Enhancement

EngineeringWho’s value system will be

used?

At this stage not possible but no grave objections

Ethical problems with genetic engineering: Therapeutic

Enginering