If you cloned yourself, what rights would you expect your other self to have?
Asked by
stevenb (
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January 2nd, 2009
I was wondering if cloning comes to be a reality that people embrace, what rights and so forth would clones have? Would there be a clone rights movement? Would you have to give half of all of your posessions to your clone? Would all of your property become half theirs? Would there be clone pride parades? Clone Day? Would they get unemployment, medicare, medicaid, retirement? Would you be responsible if they killed somebody, robbed a bank, or blew up a bridge? If they won the lottery would you get the money or would they? If they got somebody pregnant, would you be held responsible as a parent? Could you force then to work while you go live on an island paradise somewhere? Isn’t that slavery? I was just curious. As always, Thanks for your answers.
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17 Answers
The right to do my laundry.
It wouldn’t be any different than being a twin in my opinion. I wouldn’t oppress or donate half of my things to a twin sister or a clone.
I guess if I were a clone, I’d like to be treated as an individual even though I was made from someone else’s DNA. I can’t imagine I would be entitled to any of the original person’s things. Would I grow at an accelerated rate? Is there an age someone has to be when you clone them? This really does bring up a lot of interesting questions but I guess when it comes down to it anyone who was born a clone didnt ask to be born a clone so they really shouldn’t be treated any differently. One love, whether you’re a clone or not. Maybe.
Your questions raise some of the issues that make cloning not a good idea.
If, hypothetically, human cloning could be done successfully, then in my mind the only possible outcome would be that clones be allotted the exact same rights as someone born from a womb or someone born through in vitro fertilization.
They would simply be another person, but people’s DNA would not be unique any more. It is not just DNA that makes us who we are. We are also the sum of our experiences. The clone would have their own name, make their own way in the world, etc.
It should also be illegal to create clones merely to harvest body parts.
I’d like to assume that person would be treated as an individual…given a social security number, the whole nine yards. After all, I think they still have to grow up just like all of us had to. They’d be a child, someone would have to be accountable to them (the person who had them cloned). Assuming they didn’t die of some weird defect, I’m sure they’d pass off as one of us.
I don’t think there would ever be a clone day parade or any of the sort…there would be no way to tell clones from the rest of us.
One thing for sure though, if I had a clone of myself, I’d lurve him for sure =)
Do clones have souls? That always bothered me also.
the way I would look at the whole “soul” thing…if you’re religious, and God has let something like this happen, he obviously has given the go ahead. I would assume the clone would have a soul just as well.
If he didn’t want something like this to happen…well I’m sure the clone would have never been a success in the first place.
The same rights and responsibilities that I have. They can go get their own stuff, though.
I am not overly religeous, but to me a soul is what makes us who we are, and is sort of like the engine in the car. Without it we are just a shell. I guess it is, to me at least, our personality, compassion, love, life, and the fire that gets us moving and lets others know who we are.
would a clone not have all of those emotions and characteristics? certainly they wouldn’t be the same all the way around, since of course they are going to live a different life and have different influences.
I would say that clones should have the exact same rights as sexually procreated humans. A cloned human would behave just like any other human. The only difference is where they got their genes from.
@stevnb: Define what a “soul” is, then I can answer your question.
I think it’s good that human cloning is illegal, otherwise fundamentalist conservatives would try to take the rights away from cloned humans on the basis that they don’t have a “soul”.
Your question was, in part, “If you cloned yourself…”; so I would think if I made the decision to clone myself I would be solely responsible for my clone (much like a child as Marina mentioned). If I were responsible for bringing the clone to life, would I not be responsible for it’s well being? As for it’s rights; I suppose that would be determined based on dictum of the clones roles in our society. As asmonet mentioned, it would be like having a twin, except if that twin created at my behest, it changes everything. If we would be in every way interchangeable; including the aforementioned soul – it’s just to vast for my brain to handle!
My clone would get to be extra body parts for me if I need them, blood if I need that. Nothing less, nothing more. The world is already getting smaller and Lord knows I don’t need another me running around to look after.
I would think that identical twins are probably far more alike than any clone could be to it’s progenitor because not only do they share DNA, but twins would be raised in the same environment, share experiences, communicate thoughts and feelings, etc. A clone would inevitably have very different formative experiences, and so would develop along quite different lines.
I wouldn’t clone myself. I annoys me.
If I chose to clone myself it would be with the understanding that as soon as my clone had one experience individually, it would no longer be an exact replica of me, therefore it’s own person. What would be the benefit to me to make one?
the only way i would even agree to have any sort of offspring would be if it was a clone of myself.
i hate kids, but i’m freaking amazing. hahaha
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