Cloning, Eggs and Exploitation

By Robert F. Onder, M.D.

An initiative to create a constitutional amendment known as the “Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative” will appear on the ballot this November. This is the fourth in a series of articles on this topic. It is important that every Missourian oppose this Amendment that would: 1) create a constitutional right to clone human embryos and kill them for research, 2) remove existing protections for human embryos from Missouri State law, and 3) require Missouri taxpayers to pay for this immoral research. Most pro-life Missourians will oppose this Amendment because it sanctions the creation and destruction of innocent human life, something that can never be morally justified.

There is another aspect of cloning research that has not received as much attention: human cloning requires human eggs. Cloning, or somatic cell nuclear transfer, requires removal of the nucleus from an egg and inserting the nucleus of a body (somatic) cell into the empty egg. Were this experiment to work (fortunately to date it has not), a single-cell human embryo would be formed. Scientists propose to allow this tiny human being to grow and develop until he or she is five to seven days old, then “harvest” the embryo for stem cell research. Eggs for these experiments can come from only one source: young women during their fertile years. (Although some have proposed using eggs from aborted baby girls, which is not likely to work because their eggs are not mature.)

To do cloning research on a large scale, as Amendment proponents wish, many women would need to “donate” eggs for these experiments. For example, in his failed cloning experiments in Korea, Dr. Hwang Woo Suk used over 2,000 eggs. There is evidence that many of the “donors” for his experiments were subordinates of his who were coerced into donating their eggs. Amendment proponents assert (without evidence) that more than 70 diseases could potentially be treated with human cloning. If that were true literally millions of women would have to consent, or be coerced, into donating their eggs.

Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council provides an example of the massive number of eggs that would be necessary to perform cloning-based treatments on a widespread basis. Prentice notes that to treat the 17 million diabetics in the United States, assuming a generous 20% efficiency in generating embryos by nuclear transfer and a generous 10% efficiency at establishing an embryonic stem cell line, would require a minimum of 850 million eggs. Assuming 10 eggs can be “harvested” from each donor, 85 million women would have to volunteer to endure the health risks of egg donation to treat American diabetics with this approach, never mind the dozens of other diseases that proponents claim might benefit. In addition to being a practical obstacle to the cloners’ vision of widespread cloning-based treatments, there is the ethical problem of harvesting eggs from women.

Egg donation places women at significant medical risk. In the course of egg donation, the woman is injected with powerful hormones that cause her ovaries to release multiple (say 10 to 20) eggs, as opposed to a normal cycle in which a woman releases one egg each month. The eggs are then surgically removed. From 5 to 14% of women experience a complication called the ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS), which can be life-threatening. This syndrome can include massive swelling or rupture of the ovaries, severe abdominal pain, shock, and even death. Effects of egg donation on future fertility are unknown, although we know with certainty that the egg donor will never have the eggs she donates to have her own children.

Why would any woman ever consent to this, especially for science experiments that are of no direct benefit to her? The answer is money. A quick glance at any college newspaper will reveal advertisements asking for women to donate their eggs. These ads are usually for egg donation for fertility treatment, but cloning researchers are likely to seek eggs in the same way. Those wanting to harvest eggs prey on college women because they are young, and therefore have young, healthy eggs, and because they are generally in need of money. These clinics offer anywhere from $3,000 to $30,000 for egg donation.

Amendment proponents are aware that Missourians are uneasy about the prospect of our sisters, daughters, and granddaughters being exploited, and put at medical risk, to obtain their eggs. The cloning amendment therefore contains this provision: “No person may, for valuable consideration, purchase or sell human…eggs for stem cell research.…” This seems to be a ban on buying eggs from vulnerable women, forcing the cloning scientists to rely on true volunteers. This apparent ban, however, is completely nullified in the definitions section of the amendment. This section states, “Valuable consideration also does not include the consideration paid to a donor of human eggs or sperm by a fertilization clinic.” Since it is fertilization clinics that do the egg harvesting, this seeming ban on buying and selling eggs is completely illusory.

The proposed cloning amendment is bad law in many ways. It would enshrine in our state constitution a right to clone human embryos for science experiments; it would require Missouri taxpayers to pay for this unethical research, and it would prevent our elected officials from regulating cloning and embryo research. It would also encourage an area of research that almost by definition will require putting thousands of women at severe risk to their health and even their lives. This analysis provides one more reason to oppose the human cloning amendment November 8th. For more information on what you can do to help stop this amendment, please visit the Missourians Against Human Cloning website at www.nocloning.org.

Robert F. Onder, M.D., J.D. is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. He is also on the board of directors for Missourians Against Human Cloning. For more information regarding Missourians Against Human Cloning visit their web site at www.nocloning.com.