(the, uh, cutting edge of human development . . . yeah)

It appears that those kooky UFO-chasers at Clonaid are claiming that they now have two cloned children.

Firstly, yes I am skeptical about all of this, at least until tests are carried out. The "parents" of the first "clone" are blocking DNA testing, so maybe that's more reason to be skeptical.

I wonder how much one's opinion of human cloning (or the cloning of any animal for that matter) can (should?) be colored by their opinion of more mainstream issues in reproductive rights, particularly that of a woman's right to choose. That is something I am completely in favor of, and my resolution is that my opinions are compartmentalized; these are two very different issues. That being said, I would not want to be a cloned baby. Especially now, in the infancy (so to speak) of such technology. Not only emotionally (being a guinea pig, the focus of significant attention, and a product of tubes and petri dishes), but certainly subject to the medical complications of the significantly inexact science (ironically i suppose) that cloning is right now.

I mean, hey, at this point it's ethically tantamount to, say, adopting cats from the humane society with the intent of torturing them in order to enhance one's skills as a surgeon. Hint, hint.