Human Cloning is not a Moral Issue Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive T

Human Cloning is not a Moral Issue There has been an onslaught of protests and people lobbying for a ban on human cloning ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned by Dr. Wilmut and his colleagues. Not only has the media exploited the ethics of the issue and scared the public with images of Frankenstein and evil scientists, but many worldwide authorities such as President Bill Clinton, Jacques Chirac of France, and Prime Minister John Major of Great Britain have all spoken out publicly against human cloning and have proposed legislation and committees to regulate and/or ban it. Religious leaders and the Pope have also talked about human cloning's dangers of "Playing God" and the "loss of uniqueness" that an individual would suffer if he or she were to be cloned. Many of these fears are misguided, misrepresented, and illogical. The benefits of human cloning would far outweigh the drawbacks, and cloning research should not lose funding or be banned. The most popular objection to human cloning is the assumption that science would be playing God if it was to create human clones. Reverend Albert Moraczewski states that cloning is intrinsically morally wrong, is an attempt to play God, and exceeds the limits of the delegated dominion given to the human race. (Madigan, 8) To say that this argument is unclear and unsupported is generous. It refuses to differentiate between cloning and the interruptions of biological processes which are viewed as commonplace in today's society. Religious objections were once raised at the prospects of autopsies , anesthesia, artificial insemination, organ transplants, and other acts which were seen to be tampering with divine will. (Madigan, 3) Yet enormous benefits have been reaped by each of these... ...crime or illegal activity has a victim involved with it. Human cloning has no victim or loser in it. It is a chance for the advancement of science and humankind. Banning it or eliminating research funds would be a tremendous mistake when we haven't even perfected it or discovered all of the possible benefits. Works Cited Hopkins, Patrick D. Bad Copies: How Popular Media Represent Cloning as an Ethical Problem. Hastings Center Report April 1998: 1. SIRS Researcher. West High Library, Iowa City. 25 Jan. 2000 Madigan, Timothy J. Cloning Humans. Free Inquiry Summer 1997: 1. SIRS Researcher. West High Library, Iowa City. 20 Jan. 2000 The benefits of Human Cloning. Human Cloning Foundation. 25 Jan. 2000 Vere, Stephen. The Case for Cloning Humans. Taking Sides: Science, Technology, and Society. T. Easton (ed.); McGraw-Hill Publishing, 2000. 1-12.