Virginia Postrel has an interesting post over at www.vpostrel.com (“Clone

Wars”). I think she goes wrong, though, in the following passage: “Both

neoconservatives and traditionalist pro-lifers accept the Blade Runner

definition of ‘humanity’: We are human, and therefore free, because we have

the right DNA and were born without ‘manufacture.’ As I’ve written elsewhere,

’They are the ones who measure the worth of human beings by the circumstances

of their conception and the purity of their genetic makeup. They are the ones

who say “natural” genes are the mark of true humanity.’”

Most of the traditionalist pro-lifers I know oppose the creation of human

embryos through cloning (or nuclear transplantation or whatever you want to

call it). But they have no doubt that the embryos thus created are truly human

beings. That’s why they are even more opposed to the intentional destruction

of those embryos than they are to their creation. (I’m speaking, again, of the

pro-lifers, not necessarily the neoconservatives.) In the debate over embryo

research, it’s not the opponents who keep harping on the fact that cloned

embryos are brought into being in a lab rather than a womb. It’s the

supporters.