The Catholic Church: John Paul II released a statement condemning the cloning of all life forms. The Vatican also issued a statement that only condemned human cloning, but did not address other forms.
Sunni Islam: Abdelmo’ti Bayyumi, theologian from Al-Azhar University declared it is forbidden to clone animals under Islamic law. However, some Muslims have testified to the National Bioethics Advisory Committee that they feel cloning might be allowable if it produced ways to counteract infertility.
Judaism: The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Meir Law, stated that the cloning of any creature is against Jewish law. However, some believe cloning in order to produce better food and medication would be allowable in Jewish tradition.
Biotechnology Industry Organization: Carl Felbaum, president- "One of the prospects should not be, perhaps should never be, the extension of this technique to human beings... Now that it may be possible we would say it should be prohibited if necessary by law."
Libertarian Party: Steve Dasch, chairman- "Politicians should not have veto power over the creation of new life - especially human life...That’s why the Libertarian Party supports reproductive freedom of choice for Americans-whether they choose to reproduce using the traditional method, or artificial insemination, or in-vitro fertilization, or cloning... if cloning research is banned, millions of people could suffer."
Foundation of Economic Trends: Jeremy Rifkin, president- Proposing a world-wide ban on cloning, he says it should carry a penalty "on par with rape, child abuse, and murder."
World Council of Churches: Martin Robra, executive secretary- the council would prefer a moratorium until all ethical questions can be resolved.
Church of England Board of Social Responsibility: Mary Seller- "The antics of a few cranks and Hitler types" should not impede cloning research. "Cloning. like all science, must be used responsibly. Cloning humans is not desirable. But cloning sheep has its uses."
Clones Rights United Front: Randolfe Wicker, founder- "We’re fighting for research, and we’re defending people’s reproductive rights... I realize my clone would be my identical twin, and my identical twin has a right to be born."
Stephen Grebe: professor of biology, American University- "We’re going to be facing this issue with humans... With that possibility open, I’m concerned without safeguards that this will become a reality. It may very well already be."
[ Home ] [ The Details ] [ Reactions ] [ Interactions ] [ About Site ] [ Bibliography ]