Through the Looking Glass The Case for Human Reproductive...

In the summer of 1996, an animal unlike any other was born unto the world. Roughly three feet high and covered in an insulating material, there were countless others that looked nearly identical freely roaming the countryside. But this animal was special; it was precisely identical to one of its brethren. Dolly the sheep was the first ever manmade clone, an exact copy of its genetic donor. In the fifteen years since the birth of Dolly cloning technology has been improving at a steady pace, and now humanity as a whole is at an impasse: human clones. Scientists are very close to being able to clone a human being, but should they? A ban on human cloning issued by the World Health Organization is in place (World Health Organization 1) but it†¦show more content†¦According to John Harris â€Å"it is important to many individuals to have offspring that are related to them and only them†, and in some cases the only way to accomplish this is through human reproductive cloning (qtd. in Havstad 73). Consequently, this argument is founded on the underlying assumption of the right to reproductive freedom, or the freedom of an individual to do what they wish with their genetic material. Philosopher Ronald Dworkin states that this reproductive freedom is rooted in the American tradition of personal freedom, which is generally accepted as sound within American society (qtd. in Havstad 72). For those who wish to have a child that is genetically related to only them, human reproductive cloning is the only option. The main opposition to this view is the fact that there are other options available to those who cannot biologically produce children. Namely, the couples in question could turn to sperm donation, egg and embryo donation, or adoption (Baird 319). Baird claims this would allow for the couples to have children without â€Å"chang[ing] the integrity of our species† (318) by using cloning technology. What this viewpoint fails to take into account is the aforementioned right to reproductive freedom. A human being has the personal right to do what they wish with their own genetic material through the use of alternative reproductive techniques (Havstad 73), and therefore hasShow MoreRelatedThe Controversial Debate Of Human Cloning4152 Words   |  17 PagesHuman cloning has been a very controversial topic for many years now. The term human cloning includes numerous methods that are used to produce genetically identical copies of humans. The copied material, which has the same genetic makeup as the original, is referred to as a human clone (National Human Genome Research Institute). Lost in the midst of all the fuss about cloning is the fact that cloning is nothing new: it’s rich scientific history spans more than 100 years (Genetic Science LearningRead MoreEssay on Ethics of In Vitro Fertilization2459 Words   |  10 Pagesallow us to intervene in, and sometimes take control of, the processes of life and death. Not only can death, quite often, be kept waiting by the bed or machine, doctors and scientists can now also intervene in, indeed, initiate the process of life: cloning and recombination of DNA are two examples; in vitro fertilization (IVF) is another (Walters 23). It is not surprising, then, that in the wake of these revolutionary developments, bioethics is flourishing. Despite the obvious enthusiasm of philosophers