Since the dawn of man, science has been filled with controversial advances. For example, breakthroughs in areas such as artificial insemination have caused much controversy in the past. However, time has proven that such advances are truly worthwhile. The same could happen with cloning if only it was widely accepted by Americans. Protesters that feel cloning should be banned don't even understand what the procedure is really about. Nobody ever expected cloning to become reality, but now that it has people are so quick to say how "horrible" it is.
             Many arguments against human cloning are a misconception. People assume they know what cloning is when in actuality is like a foreign language to them. One popular myth is that people think cloning technology can produce an exact copy of an existing human being. This is not true. Cloning technology can only produce a cloned embryo. The developed child experiences his or her childhood and adolescence. People think that a clone will be both behaviorally and physically identical to its donor. This also is not true. Another reason people oppose cloning is because of their religion. Religion, in fact, does have an important place in our hearts and lives, but it should not shape science policy. If Catholic dogma were our guide, birth control pills would be illegal and evolution would only recently be taught in school.
             To oppose cloning or its funding is one thing, to criminalize it is quite another. It is beyond me how a majority of our congressional representatives could argue for this when it is legal for a woman to have an abortion or to discard an embryo for any reason whatsoever.
             Anyone has the right to "assume risk" if they are aware of the potential danger involved. In a press release dated January 2002 the Reproductive Cloning Network claims they support the right of individuals to make choices, even so-called 'dangerous' or 'unwise'. There are so many significant benefits that can...