Legal and ethical aspects of human reproductive cloning

Abstract

The aim of the essay is to explore the legal aspects of human reproductive cloning. Firstly, it gives a short introduction to the biological background of cloning, where special emphasis is laid upon the method of “somatic cell nuclear transfer” in connection with the existing forms of assisted reproductive technologies. The essay analyses the legal regulation in Hungary, Germany, England and the United States, and argues that the statutory prohibition of reproductive cloning often does not correspond to the biological facts, and this terminological ambiguity may lead to legal obscurity. Beyond that, the study also examines the factual and moral arguments against human reproductive cloning and the well-debated questions relating to reproductive rights, and finally, it attempts to search answers to what justifies the intervention and the rigid statutory ban on this field.