Cloning Concerns
By Richard Hayes,
Washington Post
| 11. 24. 2007
As the Nov. 21 front-page article "Advance May End Stem Cell Debate" implied, religious conservatives are not the only ones concerned about the use of human cloning for stem cell research. Many liberals, progressives and supporters of women's health and reproductive rights are uneasy for reasons of their own.
Cloning-based stem cell therapies have been projected to cost upward of $100,000 per treatment, raising questions of health equity and access.
Cloning for stem cell research opens the door to reproductive cloning and to high-tech eugenic and "designer baby" applications. And millions of women's eggs would be needed each year to supply the proposed cloning-based "personalized medicine" industry.
With this week's stem cell breakthroughs, the embryo wars may be behind us. Liberals are now in a position to take the lead in drawing attention to the social justice and human rights concerns that the new human genetic technologies raise.
RICHARD HAYES
Executive Director
Center for Genetics and Society
Oakland, Calif.
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