Subject: Human Embryo Cloning is Immoral and Should be Banned
Source: Cincinnati Post; January 3, 2002

Human Embryo Cloning is Immoral and Should be Banned
by Clare Ruehl

[Pro-Life Infonet Note: Clare Ruehl is the chairwoman Pro-Life Commission
Diocese of Covington, Kentucky.]

What's so wrong with human cloning, anyway_ Scientists say they are just
working on clumps of cells, not building human beings. Besides, science
promises tremendous health benefits from cloning those human cells.

Some say cloning should be illegal because it destroys human embryos. But
abortion has been legal in the United States for 30 years. Why should we
protect human life at its earliest moments when we don't do so for the
next nine months_

In a way, cloning is just an extension of the culture of death. For
instance, parents are encouraged to 'selectively reduce' when there are
multiple babies in the mother's womb.

Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law allows doctors to prescribe lethal
doses of prescriptions to induce death. And we tolerate the gruesome
procedure, partial birth abortion, because, ''Sometimes it's necessary.''

Clearly, death has become an ac cepted way to preserve our quality of
life.

So why the fuss about scientists experimenting on life in a petri dish_
After all, it is science that has helped us see life for the miracle it
is. Ultrasound technology can show a mother the new life growing inside
her womb. Neonatal progress means babies born as young as 16 weeks
gestation can survive. And microscience allows surgery on babies within
the womb.

In fact, it was scientists who taught us that the earliest form of human
life is the fertilized egg. In that egg, scientists can identify an
individualized DNA pattern as unique as your fingerprint, and determine
this new person's sex. Yes, scientists who work on embryonic tissue know
that this is a human subject -- and it makes them uneasy. That's why they
say ''blastocyst'' and distinguish between ''reproductive cloning'' (lives
destined for a womb) and ''therapeutic cloning'' (lives begun solely to be
sacrificed).

In the name of free enterprise, America has left for-profit corporations
free to create and clone human beings, free to deliberately destroy them,
free to harvest their tissues, free to sell their cells. What would have
been a developing baby can now be exploited and killed.

Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and other spiritual leaders who condemn
the modern culture of death remind us that every human being has intrinsic
dignity and worth from conception to natural death. Even secular writers
agree that whatever denies human dignity or exploits humankind is wrong.
Whether you call it wrong or evil, this is where cloning and
embryo-destructive research go too far: they fatally disrespect human
life.

And who is this new person_ Let me introduce you: This so-called clump of
cells is a human being, created in God's image, hence sacred. Rich or
poor, black or white, old or young, everyone is a child of God. How far
the modern world has traveled from this simple truth.

In his article in the Wall Street Journal titled ''U.S. Company's Clone
Creation Decried in Europe,'' (Nov. 27) Gautam Naik pointed out how far
America has fallen out of step with its allies in allowing biotechnology
to place greed above ethics: ''Despite deep misgivings about such research
among American politicians and the public, the U.S. has grabbed the lead
in path-breaking cloning research. Other European countries remain hostile
to cloning and its scientific companion, stem-cell research. France,
Germany, Austria, and Ireland don't permit basic embryonic stem-cell
research in humans.''

A handful of scientists, funded by private groups like the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Association, are heavily invested in embryo destructive
research. Meanwhile other researchers are progressing with non- embryonic
resources such as the miles of umbilical cord discarded every year. The
techno-race is on, and the embryo destroyers justify the path they have
chosen, in the name of a higher good: ''therapeutic re search.'' But
religious believers know there is no higher good than our just and
life-giving God. In honoring life, we honor God. And if we permit this
violation of human dignity, who will suffer next, after these young ones_
The old, ill, infirm, or inconvenient_ The imprisoned or poor or
marginalized_

America stands in need of restored respect for all human life. A
generation of children has died in the name of women's reproductive
rights. Can we let another generation die in the name of ''therapeutic
research_'' To our shame, other nations are appalled at our prolonged
legislative inaction in defense of human life.

Call your representatives and ask them to protect human life by banning
embryo destructive research and embryo cloning. Such inhumane and immoral
research should find no refuge on our great shores.