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6 J.L. & Fam. Stud. 171 (2004)
Age of Human Cloning and the Constitutional Crisis That May Result

handle is hein.journals/jlfst6 and id is 177 raw text is: BOOK NOTE: Age of Human Cloning and the Constitutional Crisis That May Result Meredith Lewis* 1. INTRODUCTION Cloning, defined as the deliberate production of genetically identical in- dividuals,1 was brought to the forefront of world news with the announcement of the birth of the first cloned animal, Dolly, the sheep.2 As a result, there has been increasing fear about the cloning of the first human, a fear that seems par- ticularly justified given an announcement on October 14, 2003, at the gathering of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. At this meeting, scientists from the Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Science in China announced they used a procedure akin to cloning technology to make and implant three hu- man embryos into a woman's womb.3 Developments such as these have re- sulted in the promulgation of anti-cloning legislation at the state, federal, and international levels. In The Naked Clone, John Kunich addresses the legal and constitutional implications of these bans. He argues that such bans are an im- permissible infringement of the First Amendment right to free speech.4 Addi- tionally, Kunich believes these bans may represent a loss of liberty interests under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments,5 and may be problematic for Su- preme Court jurisprudence regarding reproductive rights.6 While Kunich mentions the science behind cloning as well as moral ar- guments for and against it, his main objective is to change the direction of the legal debate on cloning because of the multiple ways in which bans on clon- ing can endanger the core constitutional liberties of all Americans.7 Accord- ingly, Kunich's audience should not read The Naked Clone for a detailed scien- tific discussion for or against cloning. Instead, the reader is provided with an understanding of how legislation banning or restricting cloning may affect constitutional rights. Consequently, this book note will briefly discuss the sci- Junior Staff Member, Journal of Law and Family Studies. JOHN CHARLES KUNICH, THE NAKED CLONE 3 (Praeger, 2003). 21d. at 7. 3 Malcolm Ritter, Pregnancy Reported in Fertility Technique to Be Reviewed in Texas, http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=apwire&xlc=1069592 (Oct. 14, 2003). 4 KUNICH, supra note 1, at 94-98 (describing how bans on therapeutic cloning may repre- sent a violation of the First Amendment because scientific research may be classified as expres- sive conduct itself, or may be recognized as political content speech). 5 See id. at 138 (likening reproductive cloning and the related choice to create human life to the privacy interest in reproduction created by the Supreme Court). See id. at 136 (describing how so-called split bans on cloning may create a legal duty to destroy human life). 7 Id. at x.

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