Question

How does Gregory pence support his argument of cloning

Answer 1

How does Gregory pence support his argument of cloning

Answer: For Pence, cloning and monozygotic twinning are one and the same thing. In his words “if there is nothing bad about having twins naturally; why should it be wrong to use cloning techniques to bring about the delayed birth of a twin?” Pence argued that condemnations and opposing views against cloning do not even know what cloning entails. Their condemnation is not a product of moral wisdom. Pence in his defence of human cloning first reject that the cloned is an exact copy of the adult human being completely. For him, in several senses they cannot be an exact copy of the adult human being completely. For him, in several senses they cannot be exactly the same. There will be definitely differences though minor variations. He states that: according to a chemist who thinks about such things, the probability of any two cloned hemoglobin molecules in a human body are the same is close to zero. The probability of any two cloned human bodies being identical down to their last cell is virtually zero because exactly identical goes way down as the complexity goes up.” In his view cloning do not threaten our individuality because the brain which is the most complicated human organ essential to the continuity of the self cannot be duplicated from a DNA blue print. The brain which contains all my experiences cannot be cloned or duplicated according to Pence.

However, clones are not drones but are like every other human being. For him, the idea that they are not equal to people reproduced naturally should be rejected. On this he writes: “it is a widely accepted, general principle of modern philosophical ethics that people should be treated equally as moral agents unless there is a morally relevant reason to treat them otherwise.” Every person whether cloned or born naturally deserves equal respect and worth. He based his view on the Kantian, utilitarian and Judeo Christian ethical theories which placed impartiality at the centre of ethics. He argues that for anyone to discriminate between these two groups of persons must have relevant reason. In his opinion people should not be discriminated because of their origin. For him “people are people and it should not matter how they came to exist. He calls this the principle of Non-Discrimination by Origins”. We should not treat people unequally based on prejudice. The principle of non-discrimination means that: “no one should suffer any prejudice because of how he was created whether a child originated because of unmarried parents, one parent and an unwanted pregnancy, in-vitro fertilization, gameticintrafallopian transfer (GIFT), as a twin, triplet or uadruplet or quintuplet should not matter”. He is saying that no matter how a person or a child comes to life he/she deserves equal respect and has equal worth with the rest of the people. We should not see cloned persons as drones subhuman, slaves or second class citizens. They are not different from other children because they will be gestated by normal women for nine months, raised by normal parents in a normal environment, the only difference is that they would only inherit one set of genes and not mixed genes. He also advised that cloned humans should not be killed or used as means to an end.

Killing them for their organs for him is like “knocking out your brother, transporting him to a hospital anesthetizing him and taking out one of his organs for transplant”. Pence also denied the assumption that one can clone himself. For him this is not possible. In this direction he writes “suppose I persuade my wife to undergo minor surgery, have an egg removed by laparoscopy, have its nucleus cut out and have my genes inserted. She will then spend nine months gestating the embryo and because I might be killed in some accident, making an implicit commitment to raising the child until adulthood”. He has it that even when such a done, the child will not be exactly him or a carbon copy of him. In the first place he will be a baby not an old man of 50 years like him. The time in which he is growing will be different from the time he grew. The events of both times are different, the centuries will be different, and his will be the 21st century, computer or internet age, his experiences generally different. So in this angle if I think I can clone myself them I will be disappointed. For Pence we have the personal liberty and right to reproduce. Any objection to this right will be an “offensive grave violation of your personal liberty”. The Democracy we practice points to our freedom to reproduce and right to personal decisions. Pence quoting James Hughes states that: “we allow people to make reproductive choices and this (originating a human by cloning) is a further extension of that. If a parent wants to clone a dead child as an act of love, it may be neurotic, but is it any less neurotic than wanting another child to replace a dead child?”. In his argument people have right to privacy, people should not be compelled to know if they are at risk of genetic diseases and such diseases respected when there is no treatment, engaged couples should not be forced to test for genetic diseases. People should be free in their choice of reproduction. He states that “parents should be morally free to pursue whatever alternative reproductive technology available to avoid the birth of a child with serious genetic disorder”. For him this principle extends to various types of reproduction including (NST) Nuclear Somatic Transfer. For him this right includes both stopping pregnancy, free from unwanted government intrusion into individual matters to beget children, and undergo medical procedure to get children.

Pence further argued that cloning assists in giving our children better genetic makeup. He also stated that although in doing this mistakes might arise but he does not see it as a reason not to go further because we often make several mistakes in life like choosing schools, planning pregnancy and so on. Mistakes cannot justify banning it. It will benefit the child because he/she will be offered a better genetic heritage. In his view the benefits outweighs the risk. Pence borrowed the concept of justice in John Rawls to argue that we should improve human race by making future generations more talented.

Applying Rawls theory of justice, Pence argues that our civil liberties should not be infringed upon by the government or the state and an attempt to impose procreative method on us is a violation of such liberty. Even when the state warns that we should not procreate in certain ways, it is also a violation of this liberty. For him following Rawls theory of justice we are not just permitted to improve our race but it is an obligation. It is wrong to allow future generation to inherit bad genes when we could have improved it. Pence used this to justify human cloning as a means of improving the genetic makeup of our future children. Pence further added another point that cloning enables same gender men and same gender women to become genetic parents. They will not need to look for egg or sperm donors. He said that lesbians can with cloning become parents using NST where one supplies the gene, the other the eggs and carrying of the child to term. He said even the so called homosexual gene people argue will be transmitted is only 2% possibility. But people have come up that the child produced by NST by lesbians will not have a male genetic connection. Pence replied that “the child would have a genetic connection to the father of the woman whose genotype was used and the child might one day seek out a relationship with her male ancestors”. For him, there is no difference between children of heterosexual and homosexual.

The task of making good kids is not sexual orientation but good parenting by both married and unmarried, heterosexuals and homosexuals. There is no reason to deny lesbians or homosexuals the right to use NST.

In conclusion, Pence stated that it is a procreative liberty for anyone to use NST for procreation and the child benefits more by being free from some genetic diseases. Secondly, there is a genetic connection in NST just like in sexual reproduction. Even originating a child by NST from the father strengthens some marriages and makes both parties biologically connected to the child. Lastly, following Rawls, Pence stated that NST is one of the tools we can use to improve the genetic health of future generations. It also gives the homosexual and lesbians opportunity to become parents which is a good thing for Pence.