I I would go on to ask the questions, When do the rights attach? Is it the
moment the "sperm hits the egg?" Or is it at some point thereafter? And what
rights? Is the embryo afforded the full panoply of rights that we give a
newborn infant? Or is there a sliding scale? What if anything does science
say about when an embryo becomes " human?" The Bible seems to talk about "
quickening". Is that a valid point for us to say, "OK, this embryo is now
human?"
-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu]On
Behalf Of bivalve
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 5:36 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: Atlantic Unbound Interview on cloning
What you quoted seems to provide a better summary than most of the
pros and cons, in that it actually mentions the cons, but some of the
pro argument has problems. The basic issue is whether the cloned
embryo has any particular rights to protection at that stage. Merely
talking about the potential medical benefits of the work on clones
would apply equally to Nazi experiments on naturally occuring clones
(i.e., twins) well after birth. Many experiments on adult humans
would bring about great increases in our medical knowledge, and could
save more lives than are taken by the experiments. However, killing
adults for medical information is generally regarded as wrong,
especially if the adult in question is the judge of what is right.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted
Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at
Droitgate Spa
>.....
>But many also argue that an important distinction needs to be
>recognized between "reproductive cloning," in which the goal is the
>creation of a full-fledged human being, and "therapeutic cloning,"
>in which the goal is the creation of a several-day-old embryo from
>which undifferentiated stem cells can be harvested and potentially
>used to cure a variety of devastating diseases. Those who believe
>that human life begins with the very existence of an embryo cannot
>countenance a procedure that involves an embryo's creation and
>destruction, even at a very early stage. But those who believe that
>human life does not begin at least until an embryo's cells have
>begun to differentiate themselves into distinctly human tissues feel
>that prohibiting such research-which could save the lives of many
>people with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's,
>Parkinson's, and other illnesses-would in itself be reprehensible
>and disrespectful of human life.<
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