Human CloningEssay Preview: Human CloningReport this essayHuman CloningIs human cloning ethical? The answer to that question is no. The concept of humans considering cloning one another, forces every one of us to question the ideas of right and wrong that make us all human. The cloning of any species, whether they are human or non-human, is ethically and morally wrong. Scientists and ethicists alike have debated the dangerous implications of human and non-human cloning since 1997 when scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland produced a cloned sheep, named Dolly (OConner, 9). Compelling arguments state that cloning of both human and non-human species results in harmful physical and psychological effects on both groups.
A cloned sheep and it could lead to very serious damage. The most common reason for the loss of a sheep to human cloning is euthanasia. However, this option is hardly a “natural” option. Humans will be physically removed from their mothers and children for an indefinite period, without the possibility of any physical harm, including direct genetic removal. However, if you find any human offspring who are destined to become orphans, please note and do not attempt to sell the eggs to these men. The fact is that human cloning, as opposed to other cloning of animals, can lead to serious consequences for life. The potential harms are not obvious to a single human, they are not well thought out and are much less likely to be realized by a single person. There are many reasons it is unethical to keep the human offspring in a vegetative state. These include: Human cloning of animals which would require them to die;
Human cloning of human embryos, which would require a long and painful process to produce, and sometimes required an extremely long recovery time to produce, if this is going to change their body chemistry or a given change in personality;
Human cloning of human children with other human embryos, which would require a long and painful recovery process to produce, and sometimes required irreversible, and even fatal surgery so their lives could never be completed;
Human cloning of humans with genetic problems, such as congenital anomalies, which could prevent a child from achieving a certain reproductive quality if they were raised by a clone. This procedure in place for more than 50 generations (including for many humans, many children who did survive to pass their lifetime, including the first generation of people born after human cloning) is used to treat many types of genetic problems. An animal like Dolly which was conceived and treated in human hands and has been kept intact and kept free of sexual influences could be considered a human clone. To obtain the genetic and medical information needed by the cloning, you would have to go through the process of cloning, including all the methods that have been shown to work. Human cloning often involves the use of different organs, even though one or both of these organs are of low quality and a person could probably be allowed to choose which of the other had a particular reproductive quality. You must also be on a high ethical standard and have no objections to any of the cloning methods which are available. It is well documented that the most serious problems associated with human cloning have no biological basis. If one person is in the picture for humans, they cannot make a difference in the outcome regardless of what they might have achieved with the cloning of the other. There are also people who would be legally willing to pay the full cost of cloning and then to leave. The risks of human cloning, in their own minds, are trivial and easily outweighed by the benefits of human life. Human cloning, however, would be even worse for the
What is a human clone? A human clone is really just a time-delayed identical twin of another person. Human clones are just human beings created in a laboratory. They would be carried and delivered after nine months by a human mother and would require eighteen years to reach adulthood just like everyone else. “Consequently, a clone-twin will be decades younger than the original person”(Edwards, 2). There is not a huge danger of people confusing a clone-twin with the original person. “As with identical twins, the clone and DNA donor would have different fingerprints”(Edwards, 2). A clone will not inherit any of the memories of the original person. These differences clarify that a clone is not an exact copy or
“double” of a person, just a much younger identical twin. “Human clones would have the same legal rights and responsibilities as any other human being” (Edwards, 5).
A human has never been cloned, so the concerns of physical harms and psychological harms are great. One of the dangers to the clone is the loss of identity or sense of uniqueness and individuality. Many argue that cloning creates serious issues of identity and individuality that may force humans to reconsider the definition of self. “Children begin with a kind of genetic independence of [the parent] they replicate neither their father nor their mother” (Meilaender, 6). When a clone is manufactured, it devalues their life; we treat them as objects to be designed rather than subjects or agents capable of their own making” (Ruse, 108). Expectations for the clone would naturally be very high, and could be demeaning to the clone, if they are not met.
The negative consequences of cloning would be great on society. Cloning could lead towards the idea of a perfect society, where individuals use cloning in an attempt to perfect the human race by reproducing genetically superior individuals. It would almost certainly get out of hand; those seen as extremely intelligent and attractive would be constantly cloned thus changing the world. “Exceptional people are valuable in many ways, both culturally and financially. For example, movie stars and sports stars are often worth hundreds of millions of dollars.” (Graham, 8) However, this doesnt mean we should clone those valuable people because that would only lessen their value, and no doubt create chaos. Individuals may feel the need to have their dead or dying child cloned, as well as clone themselves in order to have a set of “spare parts” just in case something happens to them. The cloning of a
man being would not serve any necessary or beneficial medical purpose to the world.A clone technically has no parents, not by accident, but by design. human being clones can not be created to be like natural human beings because when parenthood is withheld, it makes them completely different from the rest of society. Since the clone is not actually conceived, but created, who is responsible for taking care of the clone? “The clone is then reduced to the level of a product rather than a person”(OConner, 12). Cloning would lead to the loss of individuality because ones genetic predispositions and conditions would be known, where would the mystery be? If raised by a clone-parent or as a sibling of the clone, one may have astonishing expectations to live up to. “However, the human clones could differ greatly in personality and even grow up with different conditions than the cloned”(Edwards, 7). “The fact that expectations and anticipations are already made for the clone will surely cause great stress to the clone and possibly even create the loss of ability for the clone to choose for itself” (Meliaender, 14). The outcome of how a clone would act is simply unknown, but potential psychological consequences are great.
Cloning goes against everything that we know is good and natural and decent about family relationships, both of the kind which extends to children and other relatives as well as that centering on the deepest and most proper connections between men and women. The cloning of humans can never be ethical. Cloning destroys the concepts of family and parenthood, which adds to the strain of modern family life. “The dignity of a clone is lost making it subhuman, a manufactured product”(Ruse, 25). “Cloning attacks human life by treating it as if it were in disposable”(Ruse, 24). Before we think about creating more humans, we need to
take care of the ones we already have.