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|   | *This staff working paper was discussed at the Council's February 2002 meeting. It was prepared by staffsolely to aid discussion, and does not represent the official views of the Council or of the United States Government.*
 Staff Working Paper The Ethics of "Reproductive" Cloning:               Child, Family, and Society              At the first Council meeting, the discussion of the ethics of human               "reproductive" cloning included the following distinctive               strands. Some expressed and defended the moral weightiness of an               inarticulate or "instinctive" revulsion at the prospect               of making cloned human children. Others, emphasizing the low success               rate and abnormalities observed in animal cloning, argued that any               attempt at clonal baby-making would be (at least for now) a reckless               experiment on the child-to-be, given the current state of scientific               knowledge and technical facility. Both of these reactions gave the               impression that saying no to human reproductive cloning is somehow               obvious, or should be.              Perhaps this is true. But others disagreed. For one thing, people               who are repelled by the prospect of cloning human beings are concerned               not simply or primarily because the procedure is unsafe or might               not work; their objection is to the results of a perfected cloning               technology, and to a society that permits or embraces the creation               of cloned human children. Moreover, the objection based on safety               is not really an objection to cloning as such and may in time become               a vanishing objection. Furthermore, several Members believed that               "moral repugnance" was an unreliable and untrustworthy               guide to sound moral conclusions, and that, in any case, it was               imperative that we try to articulate reasons or arguments that would               justify such strong opposition to cloning. Making use of the staff               Working Papers "for" and               "against", a few Members               endorsed one or another of the moral arguments that have been raised               against human cloning, but, because of time constraints, the discussion               did not get very far. In returning to this topic at the second Council               meeting, we will attempt to advance this exploration.              Council Members are asked to re-read and ponder the arguments developed               in Working Papers "for"               and "against", distributed               for the first meeting. In the service of focusing and sharpening               our discussion, the present paper attempts succinctly to order some               of these arguments in terms of the cloned child, the cloning family,               and the cloning society. **A. The Cloned Child**              The first cloned children -- perhaps all cloned children -- would               be, so to speak, human experiments. They would be *biological*               experiments -- with grave risks of physical, developmental, and               genetic deformity. They would be *experiments in human identity*               -- being the first human beings to inherit an identity already lived               in advance by another. They would be *experiments**in genetic               programming and design*, being the first children whose entire               genetic make-up was known and selected in advance. They would be               *experiments in**family and social life*, confusing the               relationships within the family and between the generations, for               example, by turning "mothers" into "twin sisters"               and "grandparents" into "parents."               Experience with animal cloning provides clear evidence to justify               concerns about bodily harm to any child resulting from cloning seen               as a*biological* experiment. But imagining and reflecting               on the prospect of **being**               a cloned child leads to concerns about additional harms or injuries               to the child related to the **other               ways** in which cloning is an "experiment"               on the child-to-be. Some of the leading concerns include:               1. A cloned child is at risk of psychic and social harm. For example:                             a. He might experience a confused sense of self and a compromised               belief in the openness of his future, knowing that he is in appearance               and in genotype identical to another person who has already lived.                             b. He might suffer because his "parents" and others will               not regard him as they would an ordinary child (a "mysterious               stranger," a "surprise to the world"), but will instead               constantly compare him to the "original" -- not only to               observe how similar he is, but also to wonder why he is not as similar               as expected or planned.               c. He may suffer confusion of social identity, being both the twin               and offspring of only one biological "parent."               2. A cloned child may be injured (done an injustice), whether he               knows it or not and quite apart from any experienced harm, by being               treated as a product of parental design, whose "maker"               stands above him not as a human equal but as a superior artificer.                             We cannot be certain that any cloned child will in fact suffer the               predicted psychic or social harms (item 1); knowledge about these               matters would be largely empirical and would hence require producing               cloned children before we could be certain. (The argument about               injustice and equality is not an empirical matter, but a matter               of principle.) Yet given the likelihood of such risks and harms,               and the question about the "justice" of cloning altogether,               the accepted ethical principles governing human experimentation               and the protection of human subjects, if fully regarded, might lead               one to conclude that the cloning of a human child constitutes an               unethical experiment on the child-to-be, even if and when the procedure               could be rendered technically safe for use without increased risks               of serious bodily harm.               In arguing the ethics of reproductive cloning, we find ourselves               in the strange position of "speaking on behalf" of human               beings who do not yet exist and who may never exist. But such a               paradox is an inevitable part of our embodied existence. One generation               always springs from the previous one; and the previous generation,               whether it knows it or not, always "speaks on behalf"               of the next when it chooses to bring it into existence. In the face               of this radical new way of bringing children into the world, we               are compelled to think even more deeply and protectively on behalf               of our offspring, lest we do them irreparable harm and injury in               the very act of giving them life. **B. The Cloning Family and Cloning               Society**              It is not the children alone who are at risk of harm and injury               from the practice of human cloning. The cloners also -- both the               parents and the larger society -- may, even if unwittingly, do harm               to themselves. Some of the leading concerns include the following:                             a. Lacking concern for the physical, social, and psychic harms that               might be inflicted on the cloned child, parents or families risk               reducing the child to a project, a thing, or, if "it"               happens to turn out "badly," something expendable.               b. Parents who engage in human cloning risk undermining the mystery               and ultimate independence of a newborn child in favor of their own               deliberate control over the child's genetic make-up, and with it,               perhaps the dangerous illusion of control over the child's ultimate               destiny.               c. Family relations would be confounded and potentially fraught               with difficulties, especially in the case of intra-familial cloning.               The existence of a child who is a younger look alike -- a genetic               "twin" -- of one of the parents is an invitation to all               sorts of family tension, both between parents and clone and between               the parents themselves.               d. The practice of cloning children -- and perhaps viewing them               as experiments or projects -- could have a larger social effect,               not just for the children who are cloned but for all of society.               It could set a precedent for treating children as "artifacts"               to be manipulated, designed, and perfected, not gifts to be cared               for, nurtured, and set free.               e. A society that permitted human cloning -- like a society that               permitted incest -- would seem to be a different society, even if               cloning remained a minority practice. The decision to permit cloning               would say something about how society views children; how it views               the relationship between the generations; and whether it is willing               to defend the interests and dignity of its offspring, even at the               cost of limiting the absolute assertion of reproductive rights.                             It is true that there might be reasons to pursue the experiment               of clonal baby-making, and therefore to disregard the human goods               that would potentially be sacrificed in the process. These reasons               include: the desire for an individual or couple to have a biologically-related               child; the desire of parents to reproduce a genetic match for an               existing child in need of transplantation; or the desire of an individual,               couple, or society to replicate individuals of superior intelligence,               beauty, or ability, whose excellence is presumed to be based on               their genetic make-up.               But the quest for "better" children seems to depend in               part -- or perhaps entirely -- on reducing children to projects.               That is to say, in the hope of making their children "better"               human beings, the cloning family or cloning society may undermine               the dignity of their children **as** human beings. They risk               regarding children as objects, who exist mainly to satisfy parental               wishes and to fulfill parental desires. Moreover, while saying no               to human cloning would restrict one particular way of having children,               we are compelled to remember that procreation is, by its very nature,               a limitation of absolute rights -- since it brings into existence               another human being who also has rights and toward whom we have               responsibilities; and suggests that human beings, who are capable               of bringing others like themselves into the world, do not live for               themselves alone. |