Aspectos Éticos de la clonación humana: con fines terapéuticos y reproductivos.

Abstract

Neither the scientific and political community nor the general population have come to an unanimous agreement in the ethical consideration of human cloning, not even in the most admitted way, that is therapeutic cloning. Nevertheless, cloning with reproductive purposes the one that produces the greatest rejection since it is considered not very reliable in technical terms as well as ethically repudiated. Those who object to the cloning base their prohibition on the fact that it means an attack on their
human dignity and, on the other hand, in their anti-natural nature. Regarding the human dignity argument, the problem is that there
isn´t agreement about what is human dignity and how much it is wounded by cloning. Nowadays the opposition to the human cloning is been embodied in statements like the «right to be a consequence of chance» and the «right to ignorance», that means not to know (or think to know) too much about one’s self in advance (Jonas, 1997).

If human cloning was examined as a mere technical procedure, the ethical debate should focus on its security and effectiveness as biotechnologists would be the mainly involved in the issue, but this analysis is not enough because of if cloning had ever take place, it would affect human beings, both the cloned subjects themselves and their family and social environment, and this is the place where psychologists could apply our relevant knowledge. Therefore, studies and multidisciplinary debates carried out by specialists involved in the issue (biotechnologists, psychologists, philosophers, jurists, etc) as well as the formation of plural
Bioethics Comittees and the appraisal of the situation according to the basic ethical principles (acceptable to any person, regardless religious beliefs), a public research supervision and an international legislative regulation are necessary in order to avoid, among other aspects, the inmigration of scientists opened to continue researching on human cloning to others countries with more permissive legislations.