“ONE WAY OR THE OTHER: IS IT A LIFE, OR ISN”T IT?”

Darin Chappell

A few months ago, we all read about “Dolly,” the sheep that had been formed from the practice of cloning. An egg from one breed of sheep had been surgically implanted with the DNA of a ewe from a different breed. The result at the end of the closely watched gestation? A genetic deplicate of the ewe which donated its DNA! The scientific world was on its ear with joy, because, for the first time ever, a relatively large mammal had been successfully cloned. However, we were told, it would be immoral and scientifically unethical to try such DNA swapping with a human being. It would be unthinkable... Think again.

When news of Dolly came to us a while back, I then wrote that it would not be long before someone determined that he was not ashamed to do that which everyone else was condemning. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. A man being described as “an independent scientist” named Richard Seed announced this past Wednesday that he would indeed begin work on cloning a human being. Though the fame of being the first scientist to do so is undoubtedly part of that which drives him to do this, Mr. Seed also has eyes for the almighty dollar it would seem. Apparently, it is his plan to provide this “service” of cloning to those couples who ar unable to have children in a natural manner. Mr. Seed reported that it was his goal to have some 500 hundred babies born as the result of cloning every year, once his laboratory is running as he now envisions it. Of course, all of this will be done for a rather hefty price, we can assume.

I am not at all surprised that this turn in scientific malpractice. After all, when something can be done (or even suspected that it can be), it is the typical response of thousands of men and women in white lab coats to try to accomplish the task without ever pausing for even a moment to consider whether or not it should be done. The lack of morality being exemplified in a group of people that, for the most part, has been responsible for the persistent denouncing of anything to do with God or true religion is not something about which to be shocked. What is surprising, however, is the way some of our political and social leaders have responded to this news.

Our own President Bill Clinton has chimed in with his initial thoughts on the matter, saying the human cloning was both, “profoundly troubling,” and “morally unacceptable.” Because of his strong views on this issue, the president has called upon Congress to immediately pass legislation to stop Mr. Seed before he is able to carry through with his plans. For this animosity toward human cloning, our president should truly be commended.

However, some real questions remain we we look at this official position of the White House. Firstly, President Clinton has no problem will continued research in the cloning of animals or plants. Secondly, he is absolutely against human cloning research because of the moral implications of doing such. Now, why is that? What is the difference between the two in the eyes of our president and others like him? It cannot be because of the damage done to the human donor to be cloned, because there is no discernable damage done to the DNA donor. Nor can it be due to the idea of having genetic duplicates of people walking around everywhere, because the natural equivalent (identical twins, triplets, etc.) have been with us since nearly the beginning of mankind. Could it possibly be that the difference is that our leaders know in their heart of hearts that the single cell egg with a full composite of human DNA is a human life to be protected? Surely not, or else how could they continue to support the destruction of naturally combined DNA in the naturally produced egg we all knkow as abortion? Either our leaders are ignorant of life’s existence at conception, or they are knowingly allowing millions of babies to be killed even though God already recognizes them as separate people (Jer. 1:5). This new stance against human cloning suggests that the latter is, unfortunately, probably true.

Mr. Seed is not worried about the president or the congress trying to stop him. He said, “New things of any kind... always tend to creat fear. Then the subject becomes tolerated and ignored. And the third stage, which always happens, is the subject becomes enthusiastically endorse...” That is exactly what happened with abortion/ let us pray that Mr. Seed is wrong about this sinful practice, though.