Human Cloning - Who Will Benefit?

As an individual who is not expertly informed in the area of cloning, I proceeded through some research to find out the answers to many questions I had with regard to the why human cloning is such a significantly "hot" topic in the United States.

With origins dating back to 1996, when Dolly, the ewe, was genetically cloned, there has been a heated debate among religious leaders, activists, healthcare professionals, politicians and even the general public as to what cloning is permissible and when, or if, we should ever consider human cloning.

For many opponents of human cloning, there is a misconception as to what, exactly, human cloning will actually bring about. Because human cloning is the process by which an exact genetic replica is made of an individual, this does not, necessarily, mean the same personality, or person, would develop. Because our personalities are developed through a variety of influences, i.e. environment, this notion that human cloning would result in an "exact" replica of you is not necessarily true.

The question then becomes, is this "copy" of yourself now inferior to who you are as a person, physically and emotionally? While in medical, physical and legal terms, the proponents of human cloning would say that this exact replica would, in no way, be inferior, opponents put forth the argument that any second copy of something is always considered inferior and, as a society, we will consider cloned individuals to be different from that of the general public.

Another issue of concern is the handling of genetically damaged human clones. As with any scientific procedure, there must always be room for error. In the case of human cloning, the opponents argue we, as a society, can not afford to assume the burden of error in the human cloning process and, as a result, we should not proceed forward. Proponents of human cloning can not, yet, argue this position.