Long Island Coalition for Life, Inc.
Oratory Contest
Pro-Life Speech on Abortion
by Bridget O'Keefe
2011
The moral dilemma of cloning & stem-cell research
What if two children were created; one for the sake of living, the other for the sake of dying? What if the only purpose one child would ever have would be as a victim -a collection of organs, a shop of spare parts? What if the child never left the cold lab that he was conceived in - lived without the warmth and comfort of a mother and then died when his body parts or stem-cells were needed? This, sadly, is the vision of many scientists, politicians, and doctors in today's world.
Two controversial topics today in the scientific and political realm are human cloning and stem-cell research. Nearly every person, it seems, has a different opinion on how these technologies should be used, if at all. Many say that we should use these methods; many say we should not even consider them. The challenge for us is to ascertain the facts and consider the motives; only then will we be able to answer whether or not cloning and stem-cell research is ethical.
There are two types of human cloning: "reproductive cloning" and "therapeutic cloning". Reproductive cloning is when the genetic material from one person is used to create an exact copy of the person. The clone created would have the same blood type, DNA, and physical appearances as its twin.
Therapeutic cloning is very similar to reproductive cloning to a certain point; but whereas reproductive cloning creates life to live, therapeutic cloning creates life for the sake of destroying it. When a cloned embryo is created, the scientist will terminate the child in order to harvest his stem-cells. The stem-cells are then used to research potential cures for diseases like, Parkinson Disease, Diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. If an organ were needed, the body would be more tolerant to the clone's organ because it was a copy of its own.
Stem-cell research, on the other hand, has several different categories; such as, embryonic, adult, and umbilical cord derived. Stem-cell research is used for exploring possibilities in curing serious diseases; however, adult stem-cells are the most effective category and have been useful in treating illnesses. Embryonic is the type objected to by people who hold pro-life views because a human embryo must be destroyed in order to obtain the stem-cells. Adult and umbilical cord derived stem-cells do not involve the destruction or harm to any life.
In order to establish that something is wrong, we need to first understand why it is wrong by educating ourselves. In this case, human cloning and embryonic stem-cell research are both considered wrong by those who believe in the dignity of human life. Many of the scientists and mainstream media however say differently. According to them, embryonic stem-cell research can be conducted ethically. They also claim that adult stem-cells do not work as well as embryonic stem-cells, and the embryos are not really humans yet. So how do we sort out truth from falsehood? Is ethics just based on one person's word against another? Thankfully not. There is a sound logic to taking a pro-life stance on life issues and we can use this to find "the holes" in the other side's argument.
One of the reasons why human cloning is wrong is because it creates life simply for production. Imagine creating a whole work force simply by cloning a person a hundred times. As Father Tadeusz Olzacki of the National Catholic Bioethics center said, "Procreation is not meant to be replaced by production." Another reason why cloning would be wrong is if someone exploits a clone and uses them for spare parts. If they need a kidney transplant, they have a clone that has the exact same one. A person who is going blind - no problem, their clone has two perfectly good eyes. You can see how things could quickly slide down the slippery slope. Just as slaves were not considered fully human during the slave trade, clones would be seen as lesser human beings and there would be a grave danger of creating a sub-human class.
Embryonic stem-cell research is wrong because it is destroying life. Even if scientists want to obtain a good out-come by finding cures to diseases, they cannot use immoral means to do so. It is contradictory - you cannot cure one person by destroying another. St. Paul says, "Should we do evil that good may come?" The end does not justify the means. A good end does not make the means irrelevant.
All life is sacred - no life is expendable. Too often we think of life in terms of numbers. Saving a thousand people is better than saving a hundred. If we cure a million by destroying a few hundred embryos, then that is a good thing because the number of living is higher than the number of dying. No - even if only one child was destroyed in order to save the entire world, it would still be wrong. The sacredness of life is something our society has lost touch with and we would do well to reawaken that sense of awe each time we see a human being whether young or old or even a small embryo in the womb of his mother.
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