It is beginning to sound more like a sci-fi movie with declarations of a rogue doctor cloning humans and the harvesting of organs from headless people.
Of course there are reactions erupting from pro life groups to the President of the United States, rejecting this bizarre plunge into genetic mayhem. But after all the dust settles it is almost certain that cloning will become commonplace. Regardless how revolting it may seem, like abortion, it will become a right. Proclaimed as a quality of life issue, that promises hope for those who need organs or limbs. Morality pushed to the wayside for personal gain.
What makes this moral crisis more puzzling is the idea of cloning parts from our own bodies to save our own lives. Is it a sin to use parts that are not from whole bodies? If we are willing to use organs from those who are technically dead then why is it abhorrent to use parts from headless humans, especially from our own bodies?
By the way…what is cloning? How is it accomplished? Cloning is described by D. Gareth Jones in his book Brave New People as being ” brought about by the removal of the nucleus from a mature but unfertilized egg and its replacement by the nucleus of a specialized body cell from an adult organism. A whole adult cell, albeit an undifferentiated one may also be employed. The aim is that the total replicative machinery of the body cell nucleus will be switched on, and will subsequently proceed to divide and differentiate, thereby recreating the individual (italics added)from whom the body cell had been taken. The resulting individual will, quite literally, be ‘a chip off the old block.'”
The description by Mr. Jones implies that after the process of cloning begins you have the beginning of an individual. How then could you get around ethically to take parts or organs from a grown individual? The supposed answer for some lies in the genetic manipulation of embryos to grow only the organs you want and genetically suppress the growth of the brain and nervous system.
Even more telling is the statement by embryologist Jonathan Slack, professor at Bath University who said “Instead of growing an intact embryo, you could genetically reprogram the embryo to suppress growth in all the parts of the body except the bits you want, plus a heart and blood circulation.”
I ask if we were to leave this clone alone would we then have an intact baby? Wouldn’t that be the equivalent of altering a just conceived child? If we were to genetically manipulate a conceived child to not grow a brain wouldn’t that be the ending of that life to enjoy the life we cherish ourselves? Isn’t that called murder? No matter how small they are, they are alive and human. They should be protected from those who wish to profit from their demise.
Sadly the exploitation and enslavement of humanity has taken on a whole new meaning.
Phil Magnan of Chula Vista and his wife Diane represent Life Source, (619) 426-9960.
