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Stem Cell Research, Therapeutic Cloning, and the Ethics of Embryo Destruction
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- Authors
- Issue Date
- 2004
- Publisher
- 서울대학교 철학사상연구소
- Citation
- 철학사상, Vol.18, pp. 1-24
- Keywords
- embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) ; in vitro fertilization (IVF) ; abortion ; anti-cloning legislation
- Abstract
- This article is concerned primarily with the ethics of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) and therapeutic cloning(TC). More specifically, it is concerned with the question of whether or not ESCR and TC ought to be prohibited or opposed out of concern for the embryos that are destroyed in
these procedures. Since in vitro fertilization (IVF) also involves
the destruction of human embryos, I consider the ethics of ESCR and TC in relation to the ethics of IVF. The principal question of this article is whether or not it is rational to oppose ESCR and TC while, at the same time, allowing or supporting
IVF as a method to help infertile couples conceive. I argue that if pre-implantation embryos can be harmed, then IVF involves
no less harm to embryos than do ESCR and TC. Furthermore, I argue that there is no justification for a discriminatory attitude towards these procedures: the embryos involved in IVF deserve just as much, or as little, protection as the embryos involved in
ESCR and TC do. Thus, I conclude that if we oppose ESCR and TC, then we ought to oppose IVF as well, and, conversely,that if we accept IVF, then we ought to accept ESCR and TC. Since IVF is legal, publicly available, and widely accepted in countries such as the U.S. and South Korea, two of the many
countries that are currently considering banning ESCR and TC, the governments of these nations ought instead to legalize these
procedures make their medical and scientific benefits available to the public.
- ISSN
- 1226-7007
- Language
- English
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