On Mon, Nov 26, 2001 at 02:23:07PM -0800, Robert J. Bradbury wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Nov 2001, Mike Lorrey asked:
>
> > Can anyone point to some arguments against reproductive cloning
> > that are not just "because it's so" statements?
>
> Michael West kind of summed it up on the Today show. He said
> something like "I know why these people are against cloning.
> They think if they ban cloning it validates their position
> that abortion and IVF are wrong." If they can get cloning
> banned it puts them on track toward eliminating a variety
> of other things they do not like. A cloning ban might
> give them some improved arguments for challenging Roe V. Wade.
While this is a good point, it should be noted that this is not the core
reason they are against cloning. They are against cloning, IVF and
abortion because they are sides of the same big concept: humans
controlling human reproduction. To the religious, this throws out God
from the circuit, to the green it throws out the wisdom of nature and to
the general romantic it suggests that we put our reason and planning
above the natural. That is the core value ideas that underly the
resistance; while some who share these values may also be strategic
thinkers, most opponents simply argue against cloning because they think
it is wrong.
> Any serious "philosophical" arguments against cloning in
> general seem to revolve around a fundamental respect for
> what is "human". They are essentially arguments for
> maintaining humanity as it is. They seem to me to be
> curtains pulled over the argument that we are "made
> in God's image" and shouldn't change that.
Yes. But the furor and political strength of this movement is worth
noticing. Make no mistake, we are setting ourselves up as champions of
*everything* they are against.
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