Who's Afraid of Human Cloning?

by Pence, Gregory E.

• ISBN13: 9780847687817
• ISBN10: 0847687813
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-12-18
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Gregory Penceoffers a candid look at the arguments for and against for and against human cloning, and comes to some startling conclusions.

Author Biography

Gregory E. Pence is professor of philosophy in the Schools of Medicine and Arts/Humanities at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, where he has taught and written about bioethics for over twenty years.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi	(2)
Acknowledgments	xiii	(2)
Poem: Mary Had a Little Lamb	xv
1 From Dolly to Humans?	1	(8)
2 Dolly's Importance and Promise	9	(16)
What Ian Wilmut Did and Why It Was Important	9	(2)
Background on Cloning	11	(2)
What Cloning Can and Cannot Physically Reproduce	13	(2)
The New Genetic Age	15	(2)
Genetic Contributions of the Host Egg	17	(4)
The Mistake of Genetic Determinism	21	(4)
3 The False Seers of Assisted Human Reproduction	25	(14)
Beware False Prophets of Doom	25	(4)
Clone Furor: First Wave	29	(1)
Clone Furor: Second Wave	30	(1)
Clone Furor: Third Wave	31	(3)
The National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC)	34	(5)
4 Misconceptions	39	(20)
Our Legacy from Science Fiction	39	(5)
Making Women Visible	44	(1)
They Would Be People	45	(4)
You Can't Reproduce Yourself	49	(3)
Lack of Informed Consent Doesn't Matter	52	(1)
Scientists Aren't Frankensteins and Strangeloves	52	(4)
Reproductive Freedom Doesn't Lead to Coercive State Eugenics	56	(3)
5 Four Questions about Ethics	59	(14)
Case #1--Sarah and Abe Shapiro	59	(2)
Does the Rule Intrude Too Much on Personal Liberty?	61	(1)
What Is the Point of the Moral Rule?	62	(2)
Why Assume the Worst Motives?	64	(2)
Why Fear Slippery Slopes?	66	(7)
6 Cloning and Sex	73	(12)
Making Babies without Sex: Morally Repugnant?	74	(4)
Plain Sex	78	(1)
Meilaender's Testimony	79	(6)
7 Twinning Human Embryos	85	(14)
Overview of the Embryo Controversy	85	(2)
Why Embryos Are Not Persons	87	(2)
Controversies about Embryos	89	(1)
The Futility of the Human Embryo Research Panel	89	(2)
Embryo Research Today: The Craziness of the Hughes Incident	91	(4)
The Importance of Wilmut's Discoveries for Understanding Humans	95	(1)
New Calls for Banning Research on Embryos	95	(1)
What Is Lost in Research	96	(1)
Recommendations of NBAC	97	(2)
8 Arguments for Allowing Human Asexual Reproduction	99	(20)
Case #2--John and Elsie Kennedy	99	(1)
Personal Liberty and the Right to Self-Reproduce	100	(1)
Benefit to Children--Improving Genetic Inheritance	101	(1)
Case #3--Richard Dunaway	102	(2)
Case #4--Robert Atworthy	104	(1)
Benefit to Children--Genetic Therapy/Correcting Genetic Disease	105	(1)
Aiding Infertile Couples	106	(2)
Valuing the Genetic Connection	108	(2)
Generalizing the Genetic Connection	110	(2)
Rawls' Argument	112	(2)
Children for Gay Men and Lesbians	114	(5)
9 Arguments against Human Asexual Reproduction	119	(32)
Against the Will of God	119	(3)
Fear of the New and Different	122	(7)
Genetic Diversity and Evolution	129	(2)
Risk of Harm to the Child	131	(9)
A Point about Control	140	(1)
Increasing Prejudice against the Disabled	141	(1)
Fostering Sexism	142	(1)
Class Injustice	143	(1)
The Slippery Slope	144	(2)
Nature versus Nurture	146	(5)
10 Regulating Human Cloning	151	(12)
The John Moore Case	151	(1)
The Case against Regulation of NST	152	(2)
The Case for Regulation	154	(4)
The Issue of Multiples	158	(1)
Against Commercialization of NST	159	(4)
11 Conclusions	163	(14)
The Quality of the Arguments in the NST Debate	163	(1)
The Unreality of the Human Embryo Debate	164	(1)
What Might a Good Religious Objection to NST Look Like?	165	(2)
Improving Humanity	167	(3)
Alternative Pasts and Social Control	170	(2)
Beneficent Multiples	172	(2)
A Final Prediction	174	(3)
Index	177	(6)
About the Author	183