Human Reproductive Cloning must be banned, because it is a threat to "Human Dignity". This is the key message of the UN Declaration on Human Cloning (approved by the General Assembly on the 8th of March 2005). While intended as a strong condemnation of Human Reproductive Cloning, upon closer examination the UN Declaration is weak.
The UN Declaration on Human Cloning allows most if not all anticipated possibilities to apply cloning to humans and it does not provide any clarification to distinguish between the different contexts in which cloning may be used. In fact its prohibition is limited to "forms of cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life". As the Declaration does not explain what it means by "human dignity" and as this term has a large variety of meanings, whether or not a particular procedure is admitted depends on how the reader interprets the notion of human dignity.
When society wants to use the notion of human dignity to clarify the ethical acceptability or non acceptability of specific social and scientific behavior, it will be needed to develop a deeper and more operational understanding of the meaning of human dignity.
REFERENCES
This statement is taken from an earlier contribution by Carlos Romeo-Casabona on page 756-757 of
Guido Van Steendam et al. (2006) The Budapest Meeting 2005. Intensified Networking on Ethics of Science. The Case of Reproductive Cloning, Germline Gene Therapy and Human Dignity Science and Engineering Ethics 12 (4):731-793.
Available at: http://www.embeddingethics.net/IMG/pdf/TheBudapestMeeting2005_SEE.pdf
United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning. Resolution 59/280.
Available at:
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N04/493/06/PDF/N0449306.pdf?OpenE...
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Contributions
Principles of Human dignity and of Justice are underdetermined
Aurora Plomer - 02/12/2007
Sible, Sheffield United Kingdom "The principle of respect for human dignity, which figures so prominently in modern bioethics thinking is essentially underdetermined, as is the principle of justice and its application in global contexts where there is inequality of wealth and resources, vulnerability and the potential for exploitation." I developed this point in more detail in Aurora Plomer (2005) The Law and Ethics of Medical Research: International Bioethics & Human Rights Routlegde Cavendish, 158 pages