THE POSTCARD

BEFORE KNOWING THE REAL FACTS…

Mama mia, que brutto tempo we are having here. I hope you are better there because we can’t go outside until it stops raining. However, we have already seen some fabulous places and we have been in some of the best Italian restaurants. The time spent with George has been great so far. I’m having a lovely time I wish you were here. We will be back at the end of the month and we will take some souvenirs for the family.

Baci per mia mamita!

AFTER KNOWING THE REAL FACTS…

Dear mother:

I can’t handle this situation anymore. When we decided to make this trip to Italy I was hoping to change the relationship between George and I, but this was just another business trip and, as always, he is using me like a frosty, just to show mw off to his friends: how pretty his wife is and how happily married he is but, I’ve had enough of showing my bright side only to satisfy his vanity. And to make it worse, it’s raining which prevents me from going outside and seeing the world. I wish I was cat!

Everything around me belongs to him, even my own dreams. I don’t know what freedom is like anymore, I depend on his good will but at the same time I have to support him even when I know that his decisions are completely wrong. I’m his wife, I belong to him and so does my soul.

I’ve spent almost all the time trapped in this hotel room, looking through the window and wishing to be wet from the rain that is falling outside. Even the hotel keepers seem to behave like George by sharing his exaggerated protective attitude. Nobody knows how I really feel.

I hope you’re better than I am but, don’t worry, this is nothing different from what I’m used to.

We can’t judge a book by its cover…

DEBATE ON REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

DEBATE ON REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

Moot:

"We believe that reproductive cloning is a good way forward for the evolution of humanity"

1st LEADER FOR

1st LEADER FOR REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

- Good afternoon.

- We believe that reproductive cloning is a good way forward for the evolution of humanity.

- Scientific evolution allowed us to achieve a god-like power and with that, create clones, genetically identical beings.

- In the field of reproduction, couples that couldn’t have children (infertile or same sex couples), can now have offspring of their own, using their own genetic data, and thus, becoming biological parents.

- Children with birth defects can now be avoided, because cell cleaning, or removing defective DNA fragments, is now possible. Parents can even choose their baby’s traits, like hair colour or even personality. Making a perfect child is now possible and will be a very simplistic procedure in the near future.

- It is also possible to “bring back to life” the children from failed pregnancies. With just a sample of the foetus’s DNA, it is possible for the same child to have another chance.

- With these arguments, it’s impossible that reproductive cloning would have a negative effect on society, as it would give hope to thousands, even millions of people.

- I know it’s playing God, but it’s the way to the future.

Tiago

1st LEADER AGAINST

1st LEADER AGAINST REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

- As we know, reproductive cloning is a process which involves the creation of a new individual genetically equal to other.

- We don't agree with this process, we don't agree with the creation a new "human being" genetically equal to other. And I, as a member of the group against reproductive cloning, will justify our position by talking about three main arguments: the medical risks, the loss of the sense of uniqueness of an individual and the impact on society.

1^st:

- Reproductive cloning involves many medical/healthy risks. To talk about this argument I would like to refer Dolly, the sheep.

- Does anyone know how many attempts were taken to clone Dolly? It took 277 attempts to clone Dolly. "Ok but it was the first time we had a cloning experience...” But reproductive cloning is not so advanced to diminish this number nowadays.

- There is another question as to why Dolly did not live as long as a typical sheep of her species...? Why??... Maybe the ones who agree with reproductive cloning can answer.

- According to a study, 98% of cloning efforts end in failure, and the 2% of the clones which could survive would probably suffer from genetic abnormalities, heart diseases, lung problems, malfunction of immune systems, etc. etc. etc. So why try to clone a human? There are so many people in the world suffering from those diseases so why create more?

2^nd:

- Reproductive cloning would diminish the sense of uniqueness of an individual. Our looks, our fingerprints, even our immune system are sources of freedom and independence. This is not directly related to the medical risks, this is about our feelings, which have also a big importance for us.

3^rd:

- Finally, it's important to say that reproductive cloning would have a big impact on society: one of the tasks of the society is the management of its relation to the future and the transmission of its ideals to the next generation and reproductive cloning would provoke a shock between generations. The junction of the generations is crucial for the future and that’s here in this point that reproductive cloning enter and ‘disturb’.

- Clones are human beings but a kind of human beings different from us. Even if we don’t see, there are differences and we are not prepared for such differences.

- If reproductive cloning goes ahead, our life will be like a game, something like “clones vs. human beings”, two separated positions, two separated species. We have to see that it is incompatible to have clones and human beings living in the same society. (I’m doing this distinction between clones and human beings JUST to be easier to understand what we are trying to transmit you.

- Another thing also related to the impact of reproductive cloning on society is the fact that if someone commit a crime for example... it would be more difficult to find the guilty “was it the human or his/her clone?”. This is a fact, and we have to think about it.

That is all for now. Thank you very much.

Raquel
(and Sílvia)

2nd SPEAKER FOR

2nd SPEAKER FOR REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

- Cloning has been widely unrecommended, not just the physical act but also the research. One way to deal with the situation should be to look at cloning as a way of improving human life and of promoting the human species evolution. To understand reproductive cloning as a form of perpetuating humankind, it’s inconceivable not to think about its benefits and extremely positive results that it may have. The main points that cannot be ignored are the ones that consider reproductive cloning firstly as a reproductive right, secondly as a mean of diversity and creativity and thirdly as a responsible research.

Reproductive right

- Look, think and respect, most of all, the right of the people who had not decided not to have children but, effectively, who were imposed by nature, or maybe a case in which pregnancy fails. Consider the infertile couples who have spent several years trying to have a baby and then, in a few minutes, by being confronted with a negative result analysis, discover that they will never be able to have a child, to grab and hold that little baby that they always desired to have.

- More: look at lesbian and gay couples who were legally approved by society, who cannot be complete without the love of their children. Should that right be denied to them? By who? By the same people that accepted them in society?

- Think about your own life, each day that passes by, you are getting older. Some decided not to have children in their youth, others had their children but they are not living with theirs parents anymore. Imagine you are fifty or sixty, your wives are not capable anymore of giving birth so, you are alone, and you are going to be alone if there is no one to look after you. Cloning can solve it!

- Respect the right to conceive a child, it does not matter how, love is the only issue of concern.

Diversity and creativity

- As in the human sexual reproduction, there are differences between each baby, and so it is in reproductive cloning. You can choose how your baby is going to be, however, you can still choose to have a baby with the parents’ characteristics. If you have brown eyes, brown hair, why not choosing a child with the same features? To sum up, every parent wants to have a child who is similar to him. In spite all of this, the only thing that is copied is the physical part, not the mind. A clone is like a twin, yes, a twin. And twins have different personalities haven’t they?. We should treat clones with equal concern and respect, making sure others also do the same and assuring is completely adaptation to society and vice versa. We should face a clone like a normal human being because that’s what he really is. Once again, like twins, clones do not have identical fingertips, they don’t have identical personalities, and they do not even have noticeable similar personalities. The consequences of conceiving a clone would be more than a load of genes; the life experiences, education, the people around, the environment, they will all create a new human being with a different personality; we should not fear to lose our identity.

Responsible research right

- So, should we do what we can do?

- Research around cloning has been debated in circumstances of deciding what the limits are. How should we do it and who should do it to which people? It as been always studied, performed and tested in responsible terms. A restrict group of experts has been doing it with modest purposes and considering the risks. But these same risks are present in every medical process, and most times they are unexpected. This way, we agree that, the final result, the cloning itself, should be the one to have limits, not the research.

Anabela

2nd SPEAKER AGAINST

2nd SPEAKER AGAINST REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

- I would like to begin by saying “NO” to this moot. Reproductive cloning IS NOT a good way forward for the evolution of humanity, it is a DANGEROUS WAY forward for the evolution on humanity...for us, for our evolution. Why? Because of the medical risks, the sense uniqueness of an individual, the impact on society...and some more arguments I will add later.

- But before that, I would like to comment some of the arguments that the members of the group for reproductive cloning argued.

- First of all, it was said that "reproductive cloning must be a right”, a right for infertile couples. The number of infertile couples who do not produce eggs or sperm AT ALL is very small nowadays and the trend is to be even smaller in the future. But even for the ones who can’t have a child there are solutions. One of them is the adoption, for example. It's the same for the lesbians and gays: if our society had already accepted them, if they were seen like the other couples, they could also opt for the adoption

- They also argued that a couple wants to have a child without bad genes; everyone wants it...however, there are certainly other ways to combat diseases, malformations, etc.

- Another claim they make was that parent’s physical expectations can be realistic – however, the children who will be born could change that kind of physical aspects when they are older and if they want. We already can change our body (by doing plastic surgeries), the colour of our eyes, etc. We don’t need reproductive cloning for that kind of things.

- Another thing the members pro-reproductive cloning argued was that with reproductive cloning A person can reborn - but we are human beings, we are born and we die; we have to adjust ourselves to the reality...and how about the new human beings/the clones who will be born? They will be born just to 'replace' someone. Could a child, for example, grow up without being emotionally affected in this situation? We don't think so.

- The human diversity was another argument they argued. And they talked about the elimination of diseases, but we argue that it’s not necessary to create a clone “just” to combat those diseases. But even if it was necessary, the diseases which the ‘new’ clone will have will be certainly much more the ones they will could cure.

- Well, as it was said, there is a numberless of medical risks in what concerns to reproductive cloning. We are playing with our specie, we are playing with ourselves, and it brings dangerous consequences. But it is not the only argument against reproductive cloning as we also saw. There are more things to say and I would like to add some more arguments to support our position against reproductive cloning.

1^st:

- The first one is related to the risk of abuse of the technology. Each one has its own purposes. And with reproductive cloning, each one would use the clones for its own purposes.

- As Dr Patrick Dixon (who published many successful articles, etc. against reproductive cloning) said: “What would Hitler have done with reproductive cloning if it existed in the 1940s?” Hitler is not here anymore...but there are also powerful leaders nowadays... Is it worth to take the risk?

- But we can also talk about an ordinary person, who can also abuse of the reproductive cloning technology by wanting a dog which has died, even a son, a daughter, a sister... But how could a society survive with the confusion which will be certainly installed if reproductive cloning goes ahead?

2^nd:

- Second, reproductive cloning see human beings as objects which can be designed and manufactured to have specific characteristics (not only some characteristics related to health but aesthetic characteristics such as the colour of eyes etc. etc. We are not as clay or as argil which can be manufactured and moulded out.

3^rd:

- And finally, I just want to talk about the psychological and emotional harms: If a child knows that he/she is the replica of his/her dead brother or sister, what would happen? Actually, he/she was born just to 'replace' a person. Would parents prefer to make a clone instead of adjusting themselves to the loss of their son/daughter? Could a child growing up without being emotionally affected in this situation? We don’t think so.

-Well, to finish, I would like to repeat once more: reproductive cloning is a DANGEROUS way forward for the evolution of humanity. We have to beware of what we are doing.

Raquel