A Proposal for a Law to Monitor Cloning Essay -- Argumentative Persuas

  Ã‚   The purpose of this essay is to propose a policy for monitoring and legislating cloning so that it can be used appropriately for science and medical research and benefits. This report will explain the needs for monitoring cloning, my plan for monitoring cloning, the many benefits that the world will gain from monitoring cloning, and how we can implement my plan. The Cloning Controversy Public opinion toward cloning is often negative. A Time /CNN poll taken a few days after Ian Wilmut's announcement regarding the cloning of a sheep found that 93% of Americans felt cloning was bad, and 66% opposed animal cloning (Masci 2). Many religious groups have taken a definite stand on the cloning issue. The Catholic Church has been a strong force against human cloning. It declared itself opposed to human cloning in 1987 (Peterson F1). The church had many reasons to be opposed to cloning, but some specific points were strong arguments for their side. The Pontifical Academy on Life felt human cloning would not result in identical souls because God created souls (Johnson 5). The Vatican panel also felt strongly against cloning. Human cloning, it said, "represents a grave attack on the dignity of conception and on the right to an unrepeatable, unpredetermined set of genes" (Johnson 4). Protestant churches have views on the cloning issue, too. Mr. Per Anderson, a leading figure in biomedical ethics for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and teacher of religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, said that the cloning issue:    has a certain kind of power over us. We associate this with divine power: changing the very structures of nature. It ties into our deep anxieties about the malevolent side to modern sci... ... we each do our part to work with our government officials, the cloning controversy can be eliminated and monitoring can become a strong reality.    Works Cited Bognanno, Frank E., and Joseph Jilka. "Down the Road of Cloning: How a Clergyman and a Scientist Would Map it Out." Des Moines Register 9 Apr. 1997. Fried, George H. "Cloning-The Promise and the Threat." USA Today Sept. 1979: 58-60. "Getting to the Nucleus of Cloning Concerns." Editorial. USA Today 12 Mar. 1997: 7D. Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 1998. S1601. 5 Feb. 1998: 1-5. Johnson, Sara. "Cloning Sheep Raises Ethical Questions." Online. Internet. 22 Oct. 1998: 1-9. Available http://www.champion.org/cpc-cloning.htm Masci, David. "The Cloning Controversy." The CQ Researcher 9 May 1997: 1-2. Peterson, David. "Clashing Over Cloning." Waterloo Courier 2 Mar. 1997: F1+.