Illegal Beings: Human Clones and the Law

ISBN-13: 9780521853286 / Angielski / Twarda / 2005 / 272 str.

Kerry Lynn Macintosh

Opis

Many people think human reproductive cloning should be a crime-some states have even outlawed it and Congress is working to enact a national ban. However, if reproductive cloning soon becomes a reality, it will be impossible to prevent infertile couples and others from choosing the technology, even if they have to break the law. While most books on cloning cover the advantages and disadvantages of cloning technology, Illegal Beings describes the pros and cons of laws against human reproductive cloning. Kerry Lynn Macintosh, an attorney with expertise in the area of law and technology, argues that the most common objections to cloning are false or exaggerated, inspiring laws that stigmatize human clones as subhuman and unworthy of existence. She applies the same reasoning that was used to invalidate racial segregation to show how anti-cloning laws, by reinforcing negative stereotypes, deprive human clones of their equal protection rights under the law. Her book creates a new topic within constitutional law: existential segregation, or the practice of discriminating by preventing the existence of a disfavored group or class. This comprehensive and novel work looks at how anti-cloning laws will hurt human clones in a fresh perspective on this controversial subject. Kerry Lynn Macintosh is a member of the Law and Technology faculty at Santa Clara University School of Law. She is the author of papers, articles, and book chapters on the law and technology and has contributed to the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law, and Berkeley Technology Law Journal.

Recenzje

"Kerry Lynn Macintosh's new book is a thought-provoking contribution to a fascinating conversation about one of the most fundamental institutions in our society, and the ways in which technology shapes it and allows us to re-envision and re-imagine it." - The Law and Politics Book Review Zvi H. Triger, The College of Management, School of Law

Spis treści

Introduction; Part I. Five Common Objections to Human Reproductive Cloning Reflect, Reinforce, and Inspire Stereotypes about Human Clones: 1. Does human reproductive cloning offend God and nature?; 2. Should children be begotten and not made?; 3. Do human clones lack individuality?; 4. Could human clones destroy humanity?; 5. Does human reproductive cloning harm participants and produce children with birth defects?; Part II. Anti-Cloning Laws Are Bad Public Policy: 6. What anti-cloning laws say and do; 7. The five objections have inspired anti-cloning laws; 8. Anti-cloning laws reflect a policy of existential segregation; 9. The costs of anti-cloning laws outweigh their benefits; Part III. Anti-Cloning Laws Violate the Equal Protection Guarantee and Are Unconstitutional: 10. Anti-cloning laws classify human clones and are subject to strict scrutiny; 11. Anti-cloning laws inflict judicially cognizable injuries that confer standing; 12. Anti-cloning laws violate the equal protection guarantee; Conclusion.