The 21

st
Century has brought a number of bizarre technological
developments, many of which are highly contentious. Dolly the sheep is one of
the products of this advancements speci!cally in the !eld of biotechnology. "n
outcome of a long and di#cult scienti!c process of cloning, it was considered one of
the greatest achievements of men but it was never salvaged from criticisms based
on moral and legal grounds. $owever, it seems that scientists are not dissuaded by
the disparagement thrown to their critics because they are eager and even more
thrilled to e%tend this success by including humans. $uman cloning is even more
controversial and has raised even more denunciation from all over the globe.
"dvocates of human cloning suggested that cloning would produce happier and
healthier individuals& it would the solution for infertility and it would give
homose%ual couples the chance to have their own children. This part of the article
will delve on the moral and legal grounds to counter human cloning.
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'an 0laying +od
1122 .o +od created man in his own image, in the image of +od created he
him& male and female created he them. )eligious history tells us that it was +od
the .upreme 3eing who created man, blessing him with his image and li4eness.
Centuries after centuries, man, created by +od, wanted to create man. 0erhaps this
is the best argument that critics of human cloning would throw at their
counterparts. 'an doesn5t have the right to create his own man because he is not
+od, he does not have the power to create another human being because man has
other responsibilities, which is to be the steward of the earth. That is the 4ind of
responsibility and honor given to him by a $igher 3eing and not to create another
type of man which he will gain dominion over or control its destiny. /ndeed in human
cloning, man seems to be playing +od.
/ndividual5s ,ni6ueness
$uman cloning would create critical issues of uniqueness and
individualism. Cloning would create an e%act replica of a person. This would
raise an issue on distinctiveness and identity not only because the cloned
person will have an e%act appearance and genotype to another human being but
also because he may also be a twin to his mother of father who desires to have a
clone of their own. *i4ewise, the clone might feel that he is no longer a surprise to
the world since he has an alter ego who has already lived. "ll his actions will be
compared to the person from whom he was copied. /t is important to note that
genetic individuality does not only symbolize the distinctiveness of each
human life and the independence of the parents that each human child
equitably achieves. 3eing uni6ue and distinct from other human beings is also an
encouragement to live a admirably venerable life.
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Doctors and scientist believe that human cloning is a huge development that can
help save more people8s lives. Through the innovation of human cloning, speci!c
organs or rare blood types could be cloned and actually made available to the
general medical community. 7or e%ample, someone desperately needed a heart
transplant because of heart disease, with the aid of human cloning technology&
doctors would be able to clone that person8s heart cells and produce a healthy,
genetically matched heart, thus saving that patient's life. Human cloning
could revolutionize the medical industry and help save more peoples
lives.
The critics of human cloning believe that it would damage the integrity of the family
as it would allow single parents to produce a child without the presence of a partner.
/t will a9ect the child5s growth since she is only sub:ect to an environment of an
incomplete family. $owever this argument is completely unsuited to the modern
age. 'odern society has freely allowed people to reproduce se%ually, whether
planned or not. "rti!cial reproduction procedures such as sperm donation also allow
women to have children without 4nowing the identity of the father. /t would seem to
be better for a woman to 4now the genetic heritage of her child rather than accept
sperm from an un4nown donor. This will be for the welfare of the child too. /f for
instance, the child discovers that she is conceived through arti!cial reproduction, it
will burden her all life not 4nowing who his or her father is.
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"dvocates of human cloning argue that people have the right to reproduce.
3ut cloning is not :ust another aspect of reproductive technology. 0erhaps it may not
be called reproduction at all but it seems to be a means of mass manufacturing
humans. The government posed several arguments to :ustify the ban of human
cloning. T$;); /. -( C(-.T/T,T/(-"* )/+$T T( C*(-;. -o tradition supports the
right to replicate. /n addition, there is no e6uality interest which supports the right
to clone.
The government is the main entity that has an e%ceptionally strong interest in
the health of the people. .ince human cloning would tend to lead to physical
di#culties and deformities, it is very li4ely that the state will ban cloning and such
ban is :usti!ed. The government has the right to intervene especially on matters
that deal with young children and the diseases and disabilities that might be
products of cloning e%periments.
*astly, the government has a powerful interest in upholding the standard for
biological diversity. 0revalent human cloning could compromise that interest to the
disadvantage of humanity as a whole.