Cloning

[Teresa Collett]

On Tue, 4 Mar 1997, Stanley M. Morris wrote:

> Something that I, have not heard in the initial debate is criticism of the
> present transplant therapies which amount to a crude cannibalism. Cloning is
> not, to my mind, much different than gene therapy or transplant therapies.
> Cloning of individual persons, at a minimum, implies that rejection free
> organs may be produced.
>
> Here, in this no longer so remote southwestern town, there exists a
> religious sect that does not believe in any kind of internal medicine. They
> will wear eyeglasses and set a broken bone but will only resort to prayer
> for diseases Every once in a while, typhoid thins them out. My wife and I
> had to resolve how to explain this occurrence to our children as some of
> their classmates died in the process. We had to explain modern medicine in
> terms sounding something like the debate that is heating up now. Having been
> through this process, and coming down on the side which believes God enables
> us to improve our lot,  I find the comparison to Hitler disturbing.
>
> Stan Morris, Atty
> 136 W.First St.
> P.O.Box 879
> Cortez, Colorado 81321
> 970-565-3771
> smmorris at rmii.com


I understand your reseervations about discussing the Nazi regime in the
context of the search for medical knowledge, but it still remains a
historical fact that the eugenics program of the Third Reich ignored the
harm to living individuals in hopes of "improving" the human condition.
The arguments presented on behalf of the doctors in the Nuremberg Trials
provide substantial evidence of the evil that can result from hubris
disguised as compassion.

In my seminar Legal Limits of Medical Decisionmaking, I ask students to
consider whether they would convict or aquit a defendant who responds to
a charge of mercy killing in the following wa.  I then read the closing
statement of Dr. Brandt, who was convicted of crimes against humanity for
his role in the euthanasia program.  Invariably the students acquit him,
only to learn of the enormity of his crimes.

Seeking to relieve human suffering seems to be a legitimate goal of
medicine, and consistent with the faith of the Old and New Testament.
Seeking to phyically perfect the person seems to repeat the sin of Adam
and Eve.

>  >>Teresa Stanton Collett
> >Professor of Law
> >South Texas College of Law
> >1303 San Jacinto
> >Houston, Texas  77002-7000
> >(713)646-1834
> >tcollett at gateway.stcl.edu
> >
> >Visting Scholar
> >Notre Dame Law School
> >Notre Dame, IN  46556-0780
> >(219)631-5908
> >collett.1 at nd.edu
> >>
> >Teresa Stanton Collett
> >Professor of Law
> >South Texas College of Law
> >1303 San Jacinto
> >Houston, Texas  77002-7000
> >(713)646-1834
> >tcollett at gateway.stcl.edu
> >
> >Visting Scholar
> >Notre Dame Law School
> >Notre Dame, IN  46556-0780
> >(219)631-5908
> >collett.1 at nd.edu
> >
> >
>