by Leon R. Kass

About the author: Leon R. Kass is Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the College of the University of Chicago. He has written several articles opposing human cloning and has coauthored (with James Q. Wilson) a book on the subject, The Ethics of Human Cloning (AEI Press, 1998).

“To clone or not to clone a human being” is no longer a fanciful question. Success in cloning sheep, and also cows, mice, pigs, and goats, makes it perfectly clear that a fateful decision is now at hand: whether we should welcome or even tolerate the cloning of human beings. If recent newspaper reports are to be believed, reputable scientists and physicians have announced their intention to produce the first human clone in 2001 or 2002. Their efforts may already be under way...