Human Cloning and Why It Term Paper

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Another writer notes, "WHO considers the use of cloning for the replication of human individuals to be ethically unacceptable as it would violate some of the basic principles which govern medically assisted procreation. These include respect for the dignity of the human being..." (Harris, 2004, p. 34). Dignity is an important concept here, because the loss of human dignity goes against the concept of natural law and natural rights. It takes away the rights humans enjoy and depend on, and replaces them with unnatural reproductive procedures. It takes the natural joy, love, and family out of a loving conception, and replaces it with a test tube, something that is clearly not good, but evil and frightening. We enjoy the ability to reproduce not only for survival, but for love, and to take that away is to take away one of our basic human rights and privileges. Harris goes on to say, "The birth of an infant by asexual reproduction would lead to a new category of people whose bodily form and genetic make-up would be exactly as decided by other humans" (Harris, 2004, p. 48). Currently, parents cannot "choose" the attributes of their children, but this could be done in human cloning, and it goes against the laws of nature and humanity to "choose" a child based on the color of the eyes, or hair, or other characteristics.

Finally, ethical relativism believes that morality develops and is relative to the norms of a specific culture. Thus, one culture might have morals and ethics that differ from another and one might not find the other acceptable. This applies to human cloning in perhaps the most viable way, because there are very few cultures, no matter their other differences, that approve of cloning. Cloning goes against the natural law, but it also goes against the norms of culture, which support the family, reproduction through love, and sound ethical and moral choices. Human cloning not only goes against the grain culturally, but allowing it to occur can have harmful effects on the culture.
For example, there is worry that countries that support human cloning will become countries that exploit women. Most of the reproductive cells and embryos used in human cloning come from women, and poor, third-world country women might be exploited by ruthless scientists or intermediaries in an attempt to harvest large amounts of cells and embryos. Writer Walters worries that, "[R]esearch cloning would require a large group of oocyte providers and would therefore exploit women, and that an international commercial market in oocytes and perhaps in cloned stem cells would develop" (Walters, 2004). These are all valid and frightening concerns that could lead to a drastic change in the culture and morals of countries, another reason to ban human cloning at all odds.

Human cloning is an intensely controversial issue that is still being decided. While most countries ban human cloning, it is common knowledge that there are still researchers working on aspects of human cloning, from stem cell research to genetic engineering, and it is possible that someday these techniques could combine to create a human clone. The possibilities for disease treatment and cure are certainly a viable aspect of the human cloning debate. However, cloning a human for scientific or personal reasons is morally and ethically wrong. It removes the need for human procreation and sexuality, and the threat of creating a "master" race of super clones, ready to take over the world for a demented leader is not that far-fetched. The morality of human cloning is without question. Creating another human being artificially is unethical and immoral. Harris quotes Mary Warnock, "If morality is to exist at all, either privately or publicly, there must be some things which, regardless of consequences should not be done, some barriers which should not be passed'" (Harris, 2004, p. 53). Human cloning is one of those barriers, and it should not be allowed today, tomorrow, or ever......

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