Lately we’ve heard the Bush administration say that it would fully back the move to totally ban the cloning of children, and especially the cloning of embryoes for research. They have the support of various religious figures and quite a few ethicists.

Firstly, there’s the problem with banning cloning. The ban of cloning of children is still a very contraversial topic, but the cloning of embryoes, that is a matter of belief. Where, do you believe, does life start? When the embryo is conceived? Or when it has left the mother’s womb? If you believe that life starts at conception, then it is ethically wrong to do experiments on it. However, if you believe that life starts when the baby is borne to the world, then isn’t the embryo just a collection of cells?

Secondly, there’s the question of the research involved. If cloning embryos was banned, the scientists would have a problem: they’d have nothing to experiment on. Thus, the ban could prevent the discovery or invention of a cure for some genetic, or non-genetic, diseases.

Thirdly, let’s look at who is being the influence here. Various religious figures. Such religious figures have always enjoyed the inside track when it comes to this topic, as everyone takes their word as right. However, what if they’re wrong? Man has always been known to make mistakes because they believed someone else’s point of view. In this case, the fallible figures might just be causing the suffering of many.

For those of your who haven't watched the movie "Six Days", it's about a man who, through a bizarre turn of events, was cloned. From there, many problems arose, for example, the clone thought he was the original, and wanted to kill the real original. Then there was the time the bad guy cloned himself, but came out a real deformed mass. Is this what might happen to people who try to clone people?