The Views of the Holy See on Human Embryonic Cloning

1. The Holy See strongly supports the advancement of human biological sciences and agrees with the procurement of human stem cells, as long as they are not harvested from live embryos, e.g., so-called "adult" stem cells. It also supports the use for research or therapeutics purposes of these "adult" stem cells, and of any material derived from them, provided that this use is pursued in a way that does not offend human dignity and, if applied clinically, respects the principle of full informed consent. The procurement, research and potential therapies with "adult" stem cells meet, in principle, these moral criteria, and as far as is known, they also contain a great scientific promise.

2. The difference between "reproductive" cloning and "research" cloning (so-called "therapeutic" cloning) consists only in the objective of the procedure: in "reproductive" cloning one intends to develop a child by implanting the cloned embryo in a womb. In "research" cloning, one intends to use the cloned embryo in such a way that it is ultimately destroyed. To ban "reproductive" cloning only, without prohibiting "research" cloning, would be to allow the production of individual human lives with the intention of destroying these lives as part of the process of using them for scientific research. The early human embryo, not yet implanted into a womb, is nonetheless a human individual, with a human life, and evolving as an autonomous organism toward its full development into a human fetus Destroying this embryo is therefore a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate suppression of a innocent human being.

3. The Holy See believes that these forms of artificial asexual and agamic reproduction to create human embryos gravely offend the dignity of the human race and the dignity of human life. No one should ever do evil in order to achieve a good. When, in an effort to advance human science or to help human beings in need, one faces a choice between an unobjectionable means, such as "adult" stem cells, and a means that is universally recognized as raising profound ethical questions, such as "research" cloning, prudence dictates choosing only the unobjectionable means. Therefore, even those who do not share the view that the cloned human embryo has full human dignity should still be opposed to all forms of human embryonic cloning.

4. It is the view of the Holy See that any possible attempt to limit a ban on human cloning to that undertaken for reproductive purposes would be nearly impossible to enforce since human embryos cloned for research purposes would be widely available and would have the potential to be brought to birth simply by transfer to a womb using procedures employed for artificially assisted reproduction. Since human reproductive cloning is universally condemned, only a complete ban on all forms of human embryonic cloning would achieve the goal of prohibiting human reproductive cloning.

5. Further, if research cloning were permitted, it would require, to be effective, a large number of human oocytes. The Holy See is concerned by this prospect for several reasons. In the first place, the process would use the women's bodies as a reservoir of oocytes without any consideration being given to the number of donations and her procreative future. In the second place, the massive demand for human oocytes would disproportionately affect the poor and marginalized of the world bringing a new type of injustice and discrimination into existence.

6. Human cloning would encourage the development of a trade in cloned human embryos and their derivatives for scientific research or for industrial research and development purposes. Therefore, there should be enacted an explicit prohibition of such exchanges regardless of whether they are commercial or not. No intellectual property rights should be granted to information or technologies specific to human cloning.

7. The Holy See seeks a complete and explicit prohibition on all techniques of creating new individual human embryos by cloning, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, embryo splitting, and other similar techniques that may develop in the future. This prohibition must also encompass parthenogenesis and the creation of human-animal "chimeric embryos" by nuclear transfer.