Governmental Opposition of Cloning

Governmental Opposition of Cloning

Human cloning is a prospect no longer left to the fantastic realm of science fiction novels; rather it is a modern possibility. In 1997, embryologists in Scotland cloned the first mammal, a sheep named Dolly. Shortly thereafter, scientists in the United States cloned a set of monkeys. These scientific advancements and the ethical dilemmas they pose quickly grabbed the attention of the President, Congress and the American public.

In its desire to allay anxieties raised by human cloning, Congress proposed the Human Cloning Prohibition Act ( S. 1601, or the “ Bill ” ) (Cannon and Haas 637 ). Unfortunately, in their haste to pass federal legislation, the Bill’s drafters ignored important procedural safeguards, employed vague statutory language, and created a bill with significantly diverse implications. After exploring the ethical dilemmas associated with human cloning, the Recent Development critiqued S. 1601 and concluded that congress should craft more suitable legislation.

One of the ethical concerns prompting anti-cloning legislation is that human individuality may be undermined if parents can custom order the traits and other characteristics of their children. In the article, “ The Human Cloning Prohibition Act: Did Congress Go Too Far ? ”, the authors Cannon and Haas have cited the views of President Clinton on this issue. President Clinton fears that human cloning “ could lead to misguided and malevolent attempts to select certain traits, even to create certain kinds of children ---- to make children objects instead of cherished individuals. ” ( Cannon and Haas 638 ).

In 1997, within days of the announcement of Dolly’s successful birth, President Clinton instituted a ban on federal funding of human cloning research. President Clinton further ordered the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to report on whether the United States should either regulate human cloning or completely ban it with laws similar to those passed in Belgium, Britain and many other countries. Soon thereafter congress attempted to pass federal legislation.

The Bill, as proposed by Senators Christopher Bond, Bill Frist and Trent Lott, prohibits any person or entity from using human somatic cell transfer technology and from importing an embryo produced through such technology.