Why Should Baby Cloning be Illegal?

Cloning's opponents object to procreative cloning because it can be abused to design babies, skew natural selection, unbalance nature, produce masters and slaves and so on. The "argument from abuse" has been raised with every scientific advance - from in vitro fertilization to space travel.

Every technology can be potentially abused. Television can be either a wonderful educational tool - or an addictive and mind numbing pastime. Nuclear fission is a process that yields both nuclear weapons and atomic energy. To claim, as many do, that cloning touches upon "heart" of our existence, "kernel" of our being, very "essence" of our nature - and thus threatens life itself - would be incorrect.

There is no "privileged" form of technological abuse and no hierarchy of potentially abusive technologies. Nuclear fission tackles natural processes as fundamental as life. Nuclear weapons threaten life no less than cloning. The potential for abuse is not a sufficient reason to arrest scientific research and progress - though it is a necessary condition.

Some fear that cloning will further government's enmeshment in healthcare system and in scientific research. Power corrupts and it is not inconceivable that governments will ultimately abuse and misuse cloning and other biotechnologies. Nazi Germany had a state-sponsored and state-mandated eugenics program in 1930's.

Yet, this is another variant of argument from abuse. That a technology can be abused by governments does not imply that it should be avoided or remain undeveloped. This is because all technologies - without a single exception - can and are abused routinely - by governments and others. This is human nature.

Fukuyama raised possibility of a multi-tiered humanity in which "natural" and "genetically modified" people enjoy different rights and privileges. But why is this inevitable? Surely this can easily by tackled by proper, prophylactic, legislation?

All humans, regardless of their pre-natal history, should be treated equally. Are children currently conceived in vitro treated any differently to children conceived in utero? They are not. There is no reason that cloned or genetically-modified children should belong to distinct legal classes.

Unbalancing Nature

It is very anthropocentric to argue that proliferation of genetically enhanced or genetically selected children will somehow unbalance nature and destabilize precarious equilibrium it maintains. After all, humans have been modifying, enhancing, and eliminating hundreds of thousands of species for well over 10,000 years now. Genetic modification and bio-engineering are as natural as agriculture. Human beings are a part of nature and its manifestation. By definition, everything they do is natural.

Why would genetic alteration or enhancement of one more species - homo sapiens - be of any consequence? In what way are humans "more important" to nature, or "more crucial" to its proper functioning? In our short history on this planet, we have genetically modified and enhanced wheat and rice, dogs and cows, tulips and orchids, oranges and potatoes. Why would interfering with genetic legacy of human species be any different?

Effects on Society

Cloning - like Internet, television, car, electricity, telegraph, and wheel before it - is bound to have great social consequences. It may foster "embryo industries". It may lead to exploitation of women - either willingly ("egg prostitution") or unwillingly ("womb slavery"). Charles Krauthammer, a columnist and psychiatrist, quoted in "The Economist", says:

"(Cloning) means routinisation, commercialisation, commodification of human embryo."

Exploiting anyone unwillingly is a crime, whether it involves cloning or white slavery. But why would egg donations and surrogate motherhood be considered problems? If we accept that life begins at moment of fertilization and that a woman owns her body and everything within it - why should she not be allowed to sell her eggs or to host another's baby and how would these voluntary acts be morally repugnant? In any case, human eggs are already being bought and sold and supply far exceeds demand.

Moreover, full-fledged humans are routinely "routinised, commercialized, and commodified" by governments, corporations, religions, and other social institutions. Consider war, for instance - or commercial advertising. How is "routinisation, commercialization, and commodification" of embryos more reprehensible that "routinisation, commercialization, and commodification" of fully formed human beings?

Curing and Saving Life

Cell therapy based on stem cells often leads to tissue rejection and necessitates costly and potentially dangerous immunosuppressive therapy. But when stem cells are harvested from patient himself and cloned, these problems are averted. Therapeutic cloning has vast untapped - though at this stage still remote - potential to improve lives of hundreds of millions.

As far as "designer babies" go, pre-natal cloning and genetic engineering can be used to prevent disease or cure it, to suppress unwanted traits, and to enhance desired ones. It is moral right of a parent to make sure that his progeny suffers less, enjoys life more, and attains maximal level of welfare throughout his or her life.

That such technologies can be abused by over-zealous, or mentally unhealthy parents in collaboration with avaricious or unscrupulous doctors - should not prevent vast majority of stable, caring, and sane parents from gaining access to them.

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and Suite101 .

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com

You can debunk old adage, “How do you spell flavor? F-A-T.” by purchasing a steamer and experimenting with some of your old favorites. We’ve forgotten how wonderful foods taste when they are fresh and lightly cooked to let natural flavors shine through. If foods were meant to be fried, they wouldn’t grow that way?

Tale #6: “You don’t have to be hungry to eat ice cream.” Theoretically, this is also true, but not just with ice cream. According to medical research, our stomach is about 12 inches long and 6 inches wide at its widest point. The stomach of an average adult has capacity to hold approximately one quart. One quart equals four cups or 32 ounces of food and drink. Compare that to fact to fact that a “biggie” coke by itself at Wendy’s is 32 ounces.

So, when you get that full feeling, that “unbutton-your-pants-Thanksgiving-dinner-full feeling,” think about sheer volume of food that is packed in your stomach. You’ve stuffed over a quart of food into yourself. Do you feel as gross as I do?

Our stomachs hold, on average four cups of food; but we do not need to fill our stomachs to capacity in order to feel full. There is a difference between being full and being satisfied. In addition to hundreds of health benefits of water, simple fact that it fills up part of capacity of your stomach is reason alone to drink it.

Eating only when we are hungry, stopping when we are satisfied as opposed to waiting until we feel full and removing emotional aspects associated with eating will help us move toward a healthier lifestyle.

Tale #7: “I’ll eliminate “x” from my diet and I’ll lose weight” The Susan Powter, “Fat-makes-you-fat, so-if-it’s-fat-free, eat-all-you-want” logic went out window years ago, but many of us still hold on to that hope. We want to eliminate one part of our diet for a short period of time and watch miracles happen!

Diets that restrict your intake of a particular food will work in short-term, but hold no weight (no pun intended) in long run. Restricting carbs, or sugar, or protein, or fat…all of these restrictions will enable you to lose weight, but when you reintroduce these elements into your diet, whether you go on maintenance or quit diet, you will gain weight. You must permanently change way you eat and your lifestyle in order to have permanent success with weight loss.

Concentrate on why you turn to food for comfort, or reasons you overeat -- once you tackle emotional battle, with a little bit of education on fitness and nutrition, you can make long lasting, positive and easy to live with changes that don’t exclude ANY foods.

Tale #8: “If it’s all natural, it’s good for me.” Even though products are labeled as “organic” that doesn’t mean they are low in fat or calories. Become a label reader. Know what you are eating. When I purchase fruits and vegetables, I use a fruit and vegetable wash on them when I return home to remove any pesticides used in growing and harvesting these items.

And with regard to supplements, remember that FDA does not regulate these items and there is no guarantee that label will keep its promises or ingredients are tested and safe for you.

Myth #9: “Eating cures all.” Eating is designed to give our bodies fuel it needs to carry us throughout day. We’ve buried this logic under layers and layers of chocolate cake and cookie dough ice cream. Food has become our cure all for emotional problems; and occasionally physical ones as well. After a bicycle accident as a child, my mother eased my tears with chocolate chip cookies. After my tonsils removed, it was ice cream that soothed my aching throat.

And now? after a long hard day, most of us would rather sit in a nice restaurant and be served rather than fight traffic to make it home only to slave over stove, or even put a frozen dinner in microwave.

The only problem food cures is hunger. Period. Food can temporarily relieve symptoms of other problems, but it’s not a cure. Stop treating symptoms and treat problems. Uncover unhealthy associations you’ve made with food and tackle those issues. If you fix your life, you won’t mind fixing healthy food.

Tale #10: “I have to lose weight before I can love my body.” This may be single saddest tale we tell ourselves. It is only when you begin to love your body that you give it attention it deserves. Give only body you’ll ever have most precious gift of all, self-care.

Our cars come with owners manuals that tell us when to change oil, have engine services and even when to rotate tires. Develop an owner’s manual for your body. Prescribe how often it should be moved and stretched and what kind of food provides maximum performance.

Take a moment now that you’ve read all these tales and email me your thoughts. Are their tales you tell yourself that you’d like to share? Email me at: Linda@facethefat.com.

Yours in health, Linda Lindsey