General Resources | Opposing
Views | Religious Perspectives
The ethical issues surrounding the topic of cloning
mainly focus on human cloning, although some people have explored ethical
issues in animal cloning. (Because very little could be found free on
the Web about the ethics of animal cloning, that is not included here
for now). One distinction to keep in mind when reading ethical statements
about human cloning is the difference between reproductive cloning (to
produce a new human being or animal) and therapeutic cloning (now often
referred to simply as somatic cell nuclear transfer) which creates
an embryo for research or therapeutic purposes, such as to create stem
cells, but not to implant into a mother.
on Ethics and Human Cloning by Glenn McGee, Associate Director for
Education, Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine's Center for Bioethics.
Articles on ethics and cloning can be found on Bioethics.net
which includes articles published in the American Journal of Bioethics.
Opposing Views on Human Cloning:
- Reproductive Cloning
Network was the main site to find articles in favor of human cloning
with links to news, commentary and discussion forums, but the site now appears to be taken down. The spokesman
Randolfe Wicker, is also founder of the Clone
Rights United Front, a pro-human-cloning activist site.
Some thoughts of different religious and non-religious private groups
on the morality of human cloning are presented here. Aside from the
Roman Catholic Church which has a centralized authority, the perspectives
within a single religious group are offered by different theologians
and can vary.
- Church of Scotland,
Science, Religion and Technology Project, Cloning and Stem Cells Home
"The Society, Religion and Technology Project was begun by
the Church of Scotland in 1970, to address wider issues being raised
by modern technology." This group seeks balanced consideration
of the ethical implications raised by new scientific findings, it
informs the church of developments, and contributes to governmental
ethical debates. The Cloning and Stem Cells Home Page addresses
the ethics and morality of cloning humans and animals and is the
best and most extensive Web site exploring cloning from a religious
- The Roman Catholic Church
Several statement have been made by the Roman Catholic church condemming
any attempt to clone humans. The Pontifical Academy for Life, founded
by Pope John Paul II, issued this reflections
on cloning and AmericanCatholic.org has a page on Cloning and Catholic Ethics.
- Some Jewish Perspectives on Cloning:
- Some Islamic Perspectives on Cloning