The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

Research Writing 175 general public, clones could be created in societies that either would have no laws concerning cloned individuals or even laws that outlaw cloning entirely. Laurentiu Staicu from the University of Bucharest writes that these human clones could easily be considered “illegal beings” (154). He goes on to quote Kerry Lynn Macintosh in stating the possibility that “… these individuals will endure a society that has attempted through its democratic institutions to prevent its very existence” (Staicu 154). Thus, opponents claim that, as a result of such potential legal disasters, human cloning should be avoided outright. It is important to understand, however, that such legal complications are hypothetical, and Staicu also makes a point to state that laws could always be adjusted and, “…that it is nonetheless highly unlikely that society will consider potential clones as sub- human creatures, whose existence should be prohibited by law” (154-155). Thus, while legal concerns surrounding human cloning and their status in society exist, such concerns are hypothetical and viewed by others as unrealistic. Many arguments also arise against human cloning as a result of the fact that several religions generally view the act as unacceptable. For example, in Christian belief, God is the Creator “…Whose will is the ultimate source of natural law” (Staicu 156). For this reason, human meddling in the act of creation and established natural principles is viewed as an abomination and a temptation to manipulate that would be too great for humanity to handle (Staicu 156). Additionally, while genetic manipulation is not seen as wrong in the religion of Islam, cloning of human beings is viewed as prohibited. This is because it is believed that, outside of natural human reproduction and growth, a fetus is unable to obtain a soul, leaving the cloned human without any spiritual aspect and, therefore, “…the life of the cloned product will be of little or no quality” (Islam et al. 260). As a result of such shared religious objections, many believe that human cloning should not be pursued. In addition to religious issues, there exists a myriad of ethical concerns surrounding the cloning of humans. It is the view of many that human cloning should never be pursued because the potential embryo fatalities and genetic abominations produced in the process of perfecting the practice are too great an ethical concern to ever even attempt human cloning. It is often cited that Dolly the sheep was only successfully produced after 276 failures, and that such a