International Response to Human Cloning
![handle is hein.journals/cjil3 and id is 261 raw text is: International Response to Human Cloning
Elizabeth L. Shanin*
I. INTRODUCTION
In September of 2001, the United Nations placed the topic of human cloning on
its agenda at the request of France and Germany. These countries hope that
negotiations regarding human cloning will prompt the UN to adopt an international
legal instrument banning the reproductive cloning of human beings.' Currently,
scientists can travel to one of the many countries lacking restrictions on cloning and
attempt to clone humans without facing legal repercussions. An international
regulatory regime, therefore, seems necessary if a prohibition on cloning is to be
effective.2 An international treaty banning human cloning may not be the perfect
solution; it will probably lack universal acceptance, and it will take years to create.
However, the development of such a treaty will initiate an international discussion
regarding the consequences of human cloning, and the enforcement of such a treaty
will inevitably lead to some international regulation of cloning technology. I conclude
that the benefits of creating and enforcing a treaty banning the reproductive cloning of
human beings outweigh its possible weaknesses.
* BA 2000, Washington University in Sr. Louis 2000; JD Candidate 2003, University of Chicago.
1. See Annex I to Letter dated Aug 7, 2001, from the Charges d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Missions
of France and Germany to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary General, Requestfor the
Inclusion of a Supplementary Item in the Agenda of the Fifty-sixth Session: International Convention Against
the Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings, UN Doc No A/56/192 (2001). Reproductive cloning is the
process of producing a doned fetus by implanting a cloned embryo into a woman's uterus.
Reproductive cloning differs from embryonic stem cell research or therapeutic cloning where genetic
material from a patient's cells are used to grow different types of tissues. Therapeutic cloning could
be used, for example, to heal damaged spinal cords . . . [and] treat brain disorders such as
Parkinson's disease. Jose B. Cibelli, et al, The First Human Cloned Embryo, 286 Scientific American
45,48 (Jan 2002).
2. The debate as to whether human cloning is immoral, unethical, or a violation of human dignity is
beyond the scope of this development.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cjil3&div=25&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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International Response to Human Cloning
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