Lysaught, M. Therese

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Marquette Universitye-Publications@MarquetteTheology Faculty Research and Publications Theology, Department of4-1-2003Let's Ban Human Cloning NowM. Therese LysaughtMarquette UniversityPublished version. U.S. Catholic, Vol. 68, No. 4 (April 2003): 40-44. Publisher Link. © 2003Claretian Publications. Used with permission.M. Therese Lysaught was affiliated with the University of Dayton at the time of publication.Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.Let's make the world a no-clone zoneLysaught, M ThereseU.S. Catholic; Apr 2003; 68, 4; ProQuest Centralpg. 40·''''{'~ '!J.~t~li~ ot"~ ft) ,,,,<1\";, ~",~r 1'1i:~""1 ':!,;;JI'~;;'I;;,;:;}"l J,l>'1!~'IP. ~"'~ 'iv~ =1-• ~ ~~,,~) f.~li1'} i-@}:~ ~''''-.(J' ,1 -tfit\ ... · '~1,,' ,; 40 Let's make the world a no-clone zone Banning the use of cloning to create babies doesn't go far enough, argues ethicist M. Therese Lysaught. Even so-called "therapeutic" or "research" cloning involves the destruction of human embryos and therefore is not only problematic, but also immoral. N DEC. 27, 2002, the Raelians fi-nally did it. Or did they? This unusual "reli-gious" group, which believes cloning is our path to immortality, an-nounced this past Christmas that they had succeeded-that "Eve," the world's first cloned baby, had been born. The Raelians founded the biotech company Clonaid in 1997, after Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut produced the first cloned sheep, with the sole mission to produce a cloned baby. Since their announcement, they claim others have been born as well. Not surprisingly, however, neither babies nor parents have been made available so these claims can be veri-fied. Many, therefore, believe their claims to be a hoax. But can we be sure? Earlier last year, on Nov. 7, 2002, the U.S. led a 36-coun-try U.N. coalition that blocked a proposal to ban human clon-ing. A cursory read of the headlines might have suggested By M. THERESE LYSAUGHT, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton. She specializes in biomedical ethics. that the medical-industrial complex had won. Yet this was not the case. The U.S. coalition blocked the ban because it didn't go far enough. The ini-tiative sought only to ban clon-ing for producing children. The U.S. wants more-a total ban. The Raelians' claim and this international effort cer-tainly have raised the stakes for the newly Republican-led Sen-ate. Will it join the House of Representatives, which voted in July 2001 to make all human cloning illegal? Or wililawmak-ers succumb to the pressures, euphemisms, and disinforma-tion of the pro-cloning lobby that seeks only to outlaw the transfer of cloned embryos to a woman's womb? We will find out soon. On February 5, six senators re-in-troduced legislation (S. 303) that would ban human repro-ductive cloning but would allow cloning for research pur-poses. I believe they should reject this legislation and instead support the bill that includes a total ban (S. 245). Let's ban all human cloning before it's too late. Cloning is a laboratory technique used to produce an embryo that is a genetic copy of another organism. It does this "asexually," without using sperm. Cloned embryos could U.S. CATHOLIC-APRIL 2003 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.be implanted in a woman's womb and brought to term. This is often referred to as "reproductive cloning." Alternatively, the embryos could be used to research how babies develop, to test the effects of various toxins, or to mine them for their stem cells. Such stem cells could, in theory, be cultured into tissues to be injected back into the cloned person's body as a way of treating a particular disease. Based on this as-yet-remote pos-sibility, this is often called "therapeutic cloning." But since leading scientists warn that turning stem cells into treatments remains decades off at best, a better label is "research cloning." Clonaid's claims notwithstanding, as of this writing, hu-man cloning has probably not yet occurred-but not for lack of effort. Scientists more mainstream than the Raelians are currently racing to clone human embryos and human babies. Researchers at Advanced Cell Technology, a biotech company in Massachusetts, announced in November 2001 that they had cloned a human embryo. As with the Raelians, follow-up analysis suggested that their announcement was premature. Researchers overseas have stated that they have cloned human embryos, but no definitive scientific proof has yet been presented. Infertility doctors in the U.S. and Italy are quite candid about their attempts to create cloned babies for infertile couples. To BE CLEAR, EVEN MOST ADVOCATES OF RESEARCH CLON-ing agree that reproductive cloning should be banned. Their arguments are strictly utilitarian. Currently, cloning technology is at a very primitive state. In animals, more than 90 percent of cloning attempts fail to achieve live birth, and live-born cloned animals suffer high rates of deformity and disability. Until these technical difficulties are worked out, the risk of harm to a cloned human is unacceptably high. Nonetheless, cloning advocates argue, research cloning should proceed. They say that to ban research cloning would be bad for patients, science, and national security. If cloned embryos could provide therapies for diseases that currently find no good treatment-like Parkinson's disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, or spinal cord injuries-then, their argument goes, we have a moral obligation to pursue it. In their view, cloning's potential to relieve human suffer-ing outweighs moral concerns about embryonic life. Em-bryos, they argue, are not persons. Some state that while em-bryos have value as a form of human life, they lack certain U.S. CATHOLIC-ApRIL 2003 fundamental characteristics. Embryos also lack rights that would protect them from being seen simply as products or as tools for others' benefit. Cloning supporters fear that banning research cloning will stymie scientific progress. Science has the right to pursue knowledge and to pursue it freely, they argue. If the Senate limits that freedom in any way, cloning supporters warn that the best and brightest scientific minds in the U.S. will simply leave the country for freer research pastures. This brain drain would imperil U.S. scientific superiority. What's more, should those countries not shackled by conscience succeed in cloning human embryos, we might well find ourselves at their mercy, dependent on them for thera-pies we need. Such dependence, they say, is unacceptable. YET THESE ARGUMENTS COLLAPSE UNDER CLOSER SCRUTINY. The therapeutic claims made on behalf of cloning are far overstated. Our obligation to relieve human suffering also en-tails the obligation not to increase the suffer-ing of the sick and their families by bolstering false hopes with decep-tive promises. Leading scientists, including those who pioneered embryonic stem cell research, have criticized cloning advo-cates for hyping the po-tential benefits of stem cell research and clon-Cloning creates human life only for use by others and creates a new class of human beings specifi-cally destined only for destruction. Because of this, church teaching has roundly condemned it. ing when the research is at such a primitive stage. Far more animal research is needed before it would be ethical to engage in human experiments. To permit research cloning now would ensure the destruction of thousands upon thousands of human embryos without a single person benefiting. Moreover, banning cloning would have a negligible im-pact on the biotech industry. Doomsday scenarios ignore the enormous amount of innovative and truly promising research and development currently underway, especially recent ad-vances in adult stem cell research and other noncontroversial alternatives. This research will not simply stop if human clon-ing becomes illegal. Those pursuing knowledge will continue to do so creatively, breaking new ground, discovering new ways to treat illness. And if the U.N. succeeds in banning human cloning, the issue of the "therapeutic" trade imbalance evaporates. Coun-tries that permit cloning would have to accept rogue status before their global peers, a cost likely too high to pay for the 41 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.42 meager benefits cloning might theoretically produce. search cloning will open the door for reproductive cloning, and there will be no going back. Research cloning would not remain research cloning. Once researchers clone a human embryo, cloning will be im-possible to regulate. The technique will without question be used by those who wish to use it for reproduction. How simple would it be to quietly slip a cloned embryo into a woman's womb? How could one tell whether a baby in its mother's arms is a clone? Finally, research cloning would require large-scale de-struction of human embryos. Inordinate numbers of embryos would need to be created and destroyed to figure out how to get cloning to work. Researchers propose using large batches of embryos to test toxins. This is not the slippery slope argument. This is how tech-nologies work in a market environment. Technologies are ap-proved for one purpose and then get used for another. Re-For "therapeutic" cloning, dozens of embryos would need to be created and destroyed for each person treated. Im-portantly, this process would be exorbitantly expensive, mak-ing it a "treatment" option only for the richest. Feedback -----------Q: My greatest fear about cloning is ... Use of the process by unscrupulous persons or groups for their own profit or for evil purposes. Patricia M. Laux Neenah, Wis. We will not accept people who are not physically and mentally perfect. Bill Westerman Muskegon, Mich. All the babies (some call them "embryos") that die in the process. Betsy Dalton Summerville, S.c. We will end up with a master race that will take over the world and do away with us inferior beings who got here the old-fashioned way. Mary Joyce Downing Coldspring, Texas If banned, it will be done behind closed doors instead of openly by reputable scientists. Name withheld Freeport, Ill. Like anything else, only people with the most money would benefit. Florence Alestra Staten Island, N Y. That it would result in a uniformization of the human race and consequently a serious AND THE SURVEY SAYS •.• 1. I think that all human cloning-both reproductive and research cloning-should be banned. agree disagree other 86% 2. Even if someone I loved were dying from a disease that could be helped by research cloning, I still wouldn't support it agree disagree 80% Representative of other: "' don't really know what I'd do. I would hope to make the right choice; says George Parker of Philadelphia. reduction in its creativity and diversity. Robert Kress Louisville, Ky. What if "evil" people are cloned? Name withheld East Quogue, NY. Selective use of personal traits for the benefit of the state. Hitler would have loved this! Edward V. Grace Wilmington, NC. A sudden growth of mutants with untold consequences. Patrick McGarvey Mays Landing, N.f. That infertile couples desperate to have children will be bilked out of their savings with little chance of having a healthy child. Diane Vanner Steinberg Trenton, N.J. Once we begin to define some lives as "useful for" instead of intrinsically human, we open the door to genocide and other forms of murder. Kathleen D'Bryan Prairie Village, Kan. Q: My faith teaches me about cloning that . .. God is the only true creator. Larry Chavez Pueblo, Colo. Life begins at conception, so to use embryos U.S. CATHOLIC-ApRIL 2003 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.Research cloning therefore cannot but affect how we view human life. It is the ultimate step in dehumanizing hu-man life. It creates human life only for use by others and cre-ates a new class of human beings specifically destined only for destruction. Because of this, church teaching has roundly condemned research cloning. the biotech industry, Christian institutions heal and care for the sick without exorbitant profit, an important point often lost in these discussions (one must always remember to fol-low the money). But Christians also believe that our obligation to re-lieve human suffering cannot become an idol to which all things, including human life, are sacrificed. For practicing Christians, the moral course of action is often more com-plicated, arduous, and less convenient and requires prac-ticing the virtues of compassion, hope, and above all, patience. ~ Catholics should not be silenced by the arguments for re-search cloning. Through its extensive network of Catholic hospitals and health care institutions, the church embodies every day in an unassailable way Jesus' concern for the sick and the Christian belief that God is a God who heals. Unlike for research is nothing short of murder. Wendy Campos Vancouver, Wash. We are made in the image and likeness of our Creator. We are not made in the image of a petri dish. Msgr. Francis A. Murphy Cuba, N.M. MoraUy complex issues demand thoughtful, prayerful discussion. Name withheld St. Paul, Minn. Creation has to include the male and female as a source of providing cells for generation oflife (the Blessed Virgin Mary excluded). Ernest B. Jaramillo Hayward, Calif. We should alleviate the suffering of others and be healers. Iflife is sacred, we should support these efforts to heal and make life better and healthier. John Horejsi Vienna, Va. Cloning is man's attempt to become as powerful as God, just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Rita F. Renner Freeburg, Ill. God put humankind on the path toward ever greater understanding of life. We have not been created to ignore knowledge, nor to fear it. Timothy Strattner Milwaukee, Wis. U.S. CATHOLIC-ApRIL 2003 3. Among the arguments for research donlng. I find the following have some merit (May check more than one) ~ ... • • We have a duly to relieve human suffering. A ban would s1ymie scientific research. Embryos are not fully human; therefore it's OK if they are destroyed in the process of doning. None of the above. Other. 4. No matter how badly you might want a child, no one should ever done a child in their own image. agree 94% disagree 5% other 1% These results are based on survey responses from 181 U.S. CATHOLIC readers and Web site visitors. It is less my faith than my common sense that tells me reproductive cloning is a mistake. Name withheld St. Louis, Mo. Q: I think cloned humans would face the following difficulties . .. Having to live under the impressions of others that they are superior humans, or perhaps inferior humans. Keith E. Johnson Phoenix, Ariz. Rather than eliminating illness, the use of clones would perpetuate genetic illnesses that we are not aware we are carrying. Denise Perry St. Johnsbury, Vt . A terrible feeling of not being a unique person. Name withheld North Port, N. Y. They would be considered nonhumans and be treated as slaves, for spare parts, or used as war pawns. Bruce Frame Coon Rapids, Minn. Health problems and questions of their own identity and worth. Leila Dornak Oakland, Texas After the novelty wore off, I don't believe they would face any societal problems. 43 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.44 Louise Brown (the first baby born using in vitro fertilization) lives quietly in England, but remember the brouhaha when she was first born? Christine Stark Purcell Coolville, Ohio The same medical problems inbreeding causes. Gerard A. Scanlan New City, N. Y. I wonder if a cloned human being would truly ever be as we are-with a soul and essence oflife as God gives it? Name withheld South Beach, Ore. As shown with the cloned sheep Dolly, clones' processes of aging are abnormal. Ben Austin Macon, Ga. Among the unintended consequences is that the world would be overpopulated by males and short on females. Bill Cahill Wheaton, Ill. General Comments As a person living with multiple sclerosis, the thought of benefiting medically from the destruction of other human lives disgusts me. Marcia Krivus Batavia, Ill. We should develop a morality for cloning and not just run away scared. Eileen McGlone Lehighton, Penn. Reproductive and therapeutic cloning are separate issues, and combining them made it difficult to respond to this survey. Joseph D. Cole Louisville, Ky. Until society comes to terms with all the ramifications of cloning (and I believe it never will), it would be irresponsible to open this Pandora's box. We won't be able to put the toothpaste back in the tube. Terri Brzezinski Downers Grove, Ill. One thing all this technology misses is the greatness of humanity that comes about by those who are suffering and dying. I am not advocating suffering, but our faith teaches that it is in dying that we have eternal life. Father Dennis F. Voss St. Libory, Ill. In my view, a clone would not have human status. By definition a human being is a unique individual-with its own unique personality, soul, and phyiscal identity. Even identical twins are not carbon copies of each other. James Steinbach Peachtree City, Ga. Children created without love do not thrive. Desperation does not count as love. Mary Jo Sorenson Woodbridge, Va. Reproductive cloning could be motivated by a desire to give life to a new human person and to nurture that person out of unselfish love. But at this stage of development of the science of human cloning, it would be irresponsible and immoral to attempt it. Name withheld Oakland, N.J. So who's great enough to be cloned? If God wanted another of me, he would have made one ... and I am an identical twin! Judy Spencer Nunica, Mich. A greater effort ought to be made to take care of needy people who already exist. Felicia Perna Massapequa, N. Y. Science is never stopped, so I believe the discussion is moot. phil Giuntoli Palatine, III. U.S. CATHOLIC-ApRIL 2003 

Let\u27s Ban Human Cloning Now

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Let\u27s Ban Human Cloning Now

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