Australia ends ban on human cloning...Good idea? Your thoughts.?

Question

Australia Ends Ban on Human Cloning

CANBERRA, Australia (Dec. 6) - Australia legalized the cloning of human embryos for stem cell research with a vote by the House of Representatives Wednesday that lifted a four-year-old ban on the procedure.

The parliament passed Australia's first laws on stem cell research in 2002, allowing scientists to extract stem cells from spare embryos intended for in-vitro fertilization but preventing cell cloning.

The law passed Wednesday allows therapeutic cloning, the splicing of skin cells with eggs to produce stem cells, also known as master cells, which are capable of forming all the tissues of the human body.

Scientists hope stem cell research will eventually lead to treatments for conditions including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, as well as spinal cord injuries, diabetes and arthritis.

Opponents said the bill promoted unproven science that did not respect the human rights of the unborn.

Is this a good idea? Should the U.S. do the same

Answer 1

Here's my spin. If you think about in vitro fertilization, you will realize that these are eggs that never would have produced children in the first place. So any "babies" that are "killed" would not have ever existed. In essence any "babies" you would have created had you let the "master cell" go far enough would be unnatural issue.

I think the Australian Government did the right thing by not allowing real cloning, which to my way of thinking opens up a pandora's box. But I believe this is a matter for the people of the U.S. to decide, not scientists and not the government - because it is a moral issue to a lot of people.

BTW I am a right to lifer but see no conflict in my opinion on stem-cell research.

Answer 2

I think this is a wonderful idea. I don't understand how people say this is not respecting the rights of the unborn since it is using spare embryos that would end up thrown away anyway. I don't know about you, but if there was the choice of having my embryo thrown or used to help someone else, I think I would choose the later. Just because they are now using human cells and such doesn't mean we are one more step closer to being able to clone humans through, which this article seems to imply. There is so much information on the human genome we still don't know and will probably not know for years to come and until that time, cloning a human is not going to be possible. It's like trying to put together the pieces to a 1000 piece puzzle blindfolded vs being able to see them all. We are still wearing a blindfold when it comes to understanding the human genome.

Answer 3

Yes, I feel that this is a good idea and the US should do the same. Stem cell research can save so many lives and I personally believe embryos a few hundred cells big is a life.