Position Paper Brazil

Committee: Human Rights Council
Topic: Human Cloning and Human Genetic Engineering
Country: Brazil
Delegate: -------------------

The Federative Republic of Brazil revels in the opportunity towork with her colleagues in international development and humanitarianism during this session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development, as to make substantial progress on theissues on the Agenda.
In this new century, there has been no slackening of the pace of scientific research and discovery. Academic publications and the mass media inform us, of new and profounddiscoveries that seem to probe further than was ever believed posible. The interest in human cloning has created different political reactions.
The President of the National Telecommunications Agency ofBrazil, Ronaldo Sardenberg affirmed that the government supported the proposal on a convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings. It also reflected one fundamental point of consensus, thatcloning for human reproduction was morally unacceptable, but recognized the potential of therapeutic cloning.
We stand with many others who do not view cloning as a worthy way to bring a human beinginto the world. From a biological standpoint, the formation and the development of the human embryo, regardless of how conceived, constitutes a new human organism who has embarked upon the path ofhuman development that leads to natural death. Public policies must recognize, respect and care for life and prevent abuse of it.

Once a new human organism begins and there is physical existence theremust be recognition of and respect for life.
A major ethical question in conducting research cloning and embryonic stem cell research hinges on the moral status of embryos. Their use hasraised objections by those opposed to abortion on moral, religious and other grounds and by those who oppose any research that involves the destruction of a human embryo.
The use of the...