Self-preservation: an argument for therapeutic cloning, and a strategy for fostering respect for moral integrity.
The issues of human cloning and stem cell retrieval are inseparable in circumstances in which the rationale of self-preservation may be invoked as a negative right. I apply this rationale to a hypothetical case in which cloning is necessary to preserve the bodily integrity or life of an individual. Self-preservation as moral integrity is examined in a narrower context, i.e., as applicable to those for whom deliberate termination of embryonic life is morally-problematic. This issue is addressed through comparison with two paradigms commonly used in support of clinical practice: the distinction between letting die and killing, and the permissibility of vital organ retrieval after death. Although these paradigms are questionable in their own right, they offer a rationale by which scientists and clinicians may respect the negative right to moral integrity of those with whom they disagree.
Mahowald
Mary B
MB
University of Chicago, USA.
D033421:Beginning of Human Life; D001755:Blastocyst; D019976:Cloning, Organism / Q000941:ethics*; D015925:Cryopreservation; D019924:Embryo Disposition / Q000941:ethics*; D033041:Embryo Research / Q000941:ethics; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000941:ethics; D026712:Value of Life