The Ethics of Cloning
by Daniel Eisenberg, M.D.
Several years ago, a “new” animal was discovered in Australia that appeared to be
a “kosher” pig. While the animal was previously unknown, the rules governing its
status as kosher or treif are as old as the Torah. After much debate, a decision
was rendered that it was indeed non-kosher. Today, cloning presents us with our own “new creation,”
a baby with no “parents”. While the world stretches its concepts of morality and
ethics to encompass this new reality, the Jewish world also endeavors to decide if human cloning is permitted.
There is no clear consensus yet in Jewish law regarding cloning. Since the technology
to clone people is not yet a reality, the issue is an academic one, not a practical
one. For this reason Jewish law, which relies strongly upon precedent (much like
secular law), has no actual cases that have been decided. Scholarly analyses are still
being published by prominent rabbis. Already, the two chief rabbis of Israel are
reported to disagree. At least one prominent American halachic authority has ruled
that cloning is permitted in certain instances. Many technical issues of Jewish law will
have to be resolved before a final consensus is reached. In addition, many deep
philosophical concepts in Judaism will also have to be applied to cloning before
the final decision is reached.
Nevertheless, many of the issues involved have been
dealt with in detail regarding artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood,
and ovary transplants. In Jewish law, family relationships are very
important. For example, the Torah lists multiple illicit familial relationships
such as a son marrying his mother and a nephew marrying his aunt. In
traditional Judaism, religious status is passed down through the mother
and tribal designation (Cohen, Levi, Israel) is passed down through
the father.
The first serious challenges to the traditional view
of family relationships came about with the advent of surrogate motherhood
and ovary transplants. Who is the mother- the genetic mother (egg donor)
or the birth mother (gestational mother)? In addition to the legal issues
raised, such as inheritance and obligation to support the child, there
are fascinating religious ramifications. For instance, when the Torah
commands: “honor your father and mother”, who is the mother?
The case of cloning adds the following fascinating twist- in the case
of cloning a woman, is there a father?
There is an issue raised by cloning that is not present in most reproductive technology
questions. All prior technological advances have only enhanced the ability to conceive
and bring a fetus to term. Egg and sperm donations allow otherwise sterile men and women to conceive, in vitro fertilization treats ovulatory dysfunction (among
other problems), and surrogate motherhood allows women who lack the ability to sustain
gestation to have children. Nevertheless, the basic “mechanics” of conception, gestation, and childbirth are not affected. Cloning interferes with the basic process of
procreation itself. The normal sequence of egg and sperm uniting and forming a new
life is abolished and the egg becomes a vehicle for the “parasitic” parental DNA.
Basically, sexual reproduction is replaced by a new version of parthenogenesis!
The Torah tells us that originally man and woman were one being, but that G-d separated
them after creation. When a man and woman marry, they come together to form the
original whole. Does cloning unduly interfere with the deeply held belief that G-d
created the world such that a man and woman would unite to “be fruitful and multiply,”
(Genesis 1:28) creating new life together. Or, alternatively, is cloning just
another leap forward in the quest for better technology, as the Torah commands in
the same verse: “fill the earth and master it”?
The issue of cloning touches many areas of Jewish law, but it also raises many exciting
challenges to our Jewish world view. It should be very interesting to see how the
consensus of Jewish law develops if human cloning ever becomes a reality.
Sources: Maimonides: Health in the Jewish World, Vol. 3, No. 3 ( Fall 1997
), The Institute for Jewish Medical Ethics.
I would be happy to hear from anyone with questions on this topic or who
is interested in further information on other Jewish medical ethics topics.
My e-mail address is [email protected],.web.
www.daneisenberg.com
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