Editorial

'Good' cloning: There's no such thing

Cloning human beings could lead to cures for debilitating diseases such as diabetes or Alzheimer's. Cloning might help us prevent miscarriages or birth defects. Cloning could help develop treatments for infertility.

With all these wonderful possibilities, why would anyone oppose human cloning? Shouldn't we all jump on the cloning bandwagon and support cloning?

Stop. Hold it. Before we get carried away, we should take a hard look at just what human cloning entails.

Two types of cloning. Some scientists describe two types of human cloning. One is called "reproductive" cloning. This involves bringing a cloned human being to birth. The other is "therapeutic" cloning. This means using cells from a cloned human being in research.

Most people are cautious about reproductive cloning. Even most scientists worry about the safety and effectiveness of cloning human beings. They point to problems with animal cloning, including those born dead or having genetic defects.

But some scientists are trying to convince the public that therapeutic cloning is the "good" kind of cloning. Researchers are only using an early embryo, or blastocyst, to study disease and cell growth. They are not bringing a pregnancy to term.

Problems with cloning. But cloning presents scientific problems, along with serious ethical/moral issues. If we believe that embryos are human beings, then there is no "good" cloning. As Judie Brown of the American Life League points out, "Human cloning is always reproductive, because human cloning produces a living human being."

She adds, "There is simply no justification for the bogus distinction. In actuality, the modifiers 'reproductive' and 'therapeutic' merely indicate the motive for cloning. In either case, scientists have no right to violate human dignity in this way."

The Catholic Church agrees. Cloning, whether to produce children or for research, "should be condemned because it reduces human beings to mere products of a manufacturing technique," says Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua of Philadelphia.

Don't legalize cloning. The recent report of the birth of a cloned baby by the Raelian sect will give greater impetus to attempts to legalize cloning in the United States. We must oppose laws to allow any kind of human cloning, included the so-called "good" therapeutic cloning.

In Wisconsin, Representative Gary Sherman is authoring a bill that would prohibit only reproductive cloning. Wisconsin Right to Life (WRL) calls this a "phony cloning ban," describing it instead as a "clone and kill bill."

WRL prefers a federal ban and supports the Brownback-Weldon measure likely to be considered by Congress this year. The pro-life organization also supports two state proposals to ban all human cloning: the Human Embryo Protection Act authored by Rep. Steve Freese and Sen. Mary Lazich and a similar proposal authored by Rep. Steve Kestell.

Promising alternatives. There are promising alternatives in the use of "adult" stem cells, which actually include stem cells produced in all human beings from infancy. We should be vigorously pursuing this research along with cloning of animals before leaping ahead to human cloning.

Don't be misled. There is no "good" human cloning. We must resist efforts to allow any kind of human cloning.

Mary C. Uhler, editor

Mailbag

To the editor:

	Mailbag policy We reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Limit letters to 200 words or less. All letters must be signed. Send letters to: Mailbag The Catholic Herald P.O. Box 44985 Madison, WI 53744-4985 Fax: 608-821-3071 E-mail: info@madisoncatholicherald.org

Recent events again remind us that society must unite to bring the entire human cloning movement to a permanent halt.

2002 started with outrage over scientists cloning human embryos for research. One year later, outrage has shifted to the possibility of a human cloned baby being born. "Research cloning," considered barbaric one year ago, is now perceived by many as palatable when compared to the bizarre notion of a cloned child. This creates an advantage for "research cloning" supporters who embrace the "clone to kill" mindset.

I am confident the good citizens of Wisconsin recognize the evil nature of all forms of human cloning. Cloning is cloning whether the intent is to duplicate a human being for the sole purpose of killing that person (for research), or the intent is to bring that human being to birth. The outcome does not make the individual any less of a human being. The same process is used to clone the human embryo, regardless of his/her fate.

We at Pro-Life Wisconsin have been working for over a year with Rep. Steve Kestell towards a comprehensive human cloning ban. Encouraged by the announced support of Assembly Speaker John Gard, we hope to see such a ban become a reality in Wisconsin.

Mary Matuska, legislative director
Pro-Life Wisconsin, Brookfield

Overlooked immigrant issues

To the editor:

Regarding the issue of having Masses in Spanish to accommodate the increasing influx of Hispanics in the diocese, I recall when we had a Latin Mass. We used missals with English alongside the Latin and guess what! We learned Latin. Deo gratias!

Give these people missals with Spanish alongside the English and guess what! They will learn English. Thanks be to God! Problem solved.

There is one other issue here, much more serious, that is being overlooked. Where is the office of Rural Life in this diocese? These immigrants are being exploited by mega-farms because they are willing to work for crumbs, which is more than they had in Mexico. Injustice? Why does Rural Life not say a peep?

Why does Rural Life ignore the many individual family farmers who have been forced out of business and off the land by these same mega-farms?

This injustice has been going on for more years than I care to count.

Betty J. Bauer, Lancaster