Assembling a Case

the comatose be protected? Why, for that matter, protect people who are sleeping? They could be killed in a painless manner, with no suffering involved.

Implicitly or explicitly, proponents of cloning believe that our rights depend on our having certain traits, such as mental functions. Since these traits come in varying degrees (and well after birth), it is hard to see how the pro-cloning view can be made consistent with the basic American belief that people are equal in dignity and rights. If, on the other hand, human beings are intrinsically valuable—if they deserve protection from harm merely by virtue of being human beings, and not because of any additional traits they may or may not have—then they must have worth and deserve protection regardless of their size, age, or stage of development.

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the comatose be protected? Why, for that matter, protect people who are sleeping? They could be killed in a painless manner, with no suffering involved.

Implicitly or explicitly, proponents of cloning believe that our rights depend on our having certain traits, such as mental functions. Since these traits come in varying degrees (and well after birth), it is hard to see how the pro-cloning view can be made consistent with the basic American belief that people are equal in dignity and rights. If, on the other hand, human beings are intrinsically valuable—if they deserve protection from harm merely by virtue of being human beings, and not because of any additional traits they may or may not have—then they must have worth and deserve protection regardless of their size, age, or stage of development.