Now we are ready to answer some of the main questions asked at the beginning of this website...
What countries have banned human cloning? What is Canada's position on this issue? How does this relate to laws governing stem cell research?
More than 30 countries around
the world have completely banned both therapeutic and reproductive cloning (Matthews).
However, there are fifteen countries, such as the United Kingdom and Japan that
have only prohibited reproductive cloning (Matthews).
There are also some countries, such as the United States of America, that have
not passed any legislation that prohibit human cloning (Matthews).
Surveys show that most of the Canadian population are against cloning for reproductive purposes ("Human Cloning"). Canada’s Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) legislation bans any type of human cloning; this includes both reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning ("Human Cloning"). Penalties include up to $500,000 fine and a potential jail time of 10 years ("Human Cloning"). Therapeutic cloning is closely related to stem cell research as therapeutic cloning provides a way to gain stem cells from embryos ("Cloning"). Canada allows stem cell research but has many guidelines and laws regarding it ("Stem Cells: FAQs"). For example, scientists can only use stem cells from embryos that are no longer wanted for reproduction; full consent must be given by the donor ("Stem Cells: FAQs"). This embryo must have been originally intended for reproduction as creating an embryo for the purpose of cloning is illegal ("Stem Cells: FAQs"). Also it is illegal to merge the human embryo with stem cells that are from animals ("Stem Cells: FAQs"). Furthermore, there can be no exchange in money or profit being made by donating an embryo ("Stem Cells: FAQs"). |