Human clones already walk among us. You may even have a pair in your family. We may not think of identical twins as clones, but that’s exactly what they are. Here’s how Wikipedia describes it, “Monozygotic twins, frequently referred to as identical twins, occur when a single egg is fertilized to form one zygote (monozygotic) which then divides into two separate embryos.” The resulting twins are essentially clones of each other.
Natural clones/twins have virtually identical DNA, just as artificially created clones/twins would. It happens all the time, and the world doesn’t come to an end as a result. In addition, the resulting twins/clones end up leading different lives as natural mutations and environmental factors send the clones/twins on different life paths over-time. The same would happen with artificial clones. Clones/twins, are completely different persons who just happen to share nearly identical DNA.
Do the writers of the Republican platform, the general public, and the opponents of cloning in Congress, understand this? It seems not. And yet, there is widespread support to ban cloning. The problem is that such a ban seems certain to also prohibit the cloning of tissues (as opposed to full human beings) that could be used for perfect organ transplants. Remember this if you happen to need such a transplant.
This is the kind of problem we create when we allow the democratic process to decide issues that are beyond the competence of the general public and the politicians they elect. DOWNSIZE DC!