U.S. should control cloning, not ban it

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With the announcement of a successfully cloned human embryo at a
Massachusetts laboratory yesterday, human cloning is back in the
national spotlight. And like nuclear technology before it, the
world’s next hotly contested advancement raises many ethical
and practical dilemmas.

Opponents of human cloning are poised and ready to attack what
the National Right to Life committee called the creation of
“human embryo farms,” and it appears that the United
States Congress will follow its lead when the Senate considers an
all-out ban on human cloning in January ““ a bill the House
already approved in March.

But before we douse the fire of human progress, we must
recognize the reality of the cloning situation. Human cloning is
inevitable. Regardless of what the 87 percent of Americans who
believe it should be illegal think, if the United States
doesn’t allow it, it will take place out of our hands
elsewhere.

For example, American researcher Panos Zavos has teamed up with
an Italian scientist to clone humans to help infertile couples
reproduce. He’s conducting this research with over 200
volunteer couples despite impending U.S. political objection and in
the face of the European Union’s banning his organization
from function within its boundaries. Clonaid, another organization
seeking the advancement of human cloning, moved its operations to
an undisclosed location abroad after receiving major opposition
from the Food and Drug Administration. At one point, the FDA raided
Clonaid facilities to ensure human cloning was not being
conducted.

Instead of pretending that a law banning human cloning will stop
it from occurring, we would be much better served by allowing
cloning in a controlled environment. Relegating it to areas outside
of the country prevents the U.S. from overseeing ““ and
possibly stopping ““ cloning if its outcomes prove dangerous
to the public.

Cloning should be used to create cures for cancer and other
terminal illnesses, as well as to make organ transplants available
to patients. The overall goal of many cloning advocates is to
advance human quality of life by helping to eliminate forms of
human suffering. But this does not mean that we should blindly
allow human cloning without thinking of its consequences
either.

Unrestricted cloning can have many serious consequences, such as
overpopulating our world and creating previously unconsidered civil
rights questions. There’s no doubt that many will try to
capitalize on cloning by marketing the “perfect child”
or by directing cloning toward militaristic and otherwise
antagonistic goals. This will happen regardless of whether the
United States and Europe outlaw cloning ““ attempting to
outlaw cloning is like attempting to outlaw terrorism, it just will
not happen.

The best the United States can do in attempting to control an
unstoppable step forward in scientific progress is to do just that:
control it ““ through legislative means.