ABSTRACT

Jean-Paul Sartre analyzed oppression within the larger socioeconomic system that constitutes it, seeing it primarily in terms of scarcity. It is the perception of scarcity in reproduction that fuels, in part, the race to clone humans. For Sartre, scarcity is the basis of alienation in modern societies marked by competition over limited resources, and it characterizes all human relationships. In the case of cloning, overabundance is created by an attempt to address scarcity, since at present cloning is a highly inefficient mode of reproduction. Whether cloning will advance or impede women's liberation is a complex matter that is not discernable in the short term. Cloning, when viewed from an international perspective, raises issues of social justice. International consensus, when possible, on bioethics issues related to cloning and embryo research is increasingly important, as are global assessments of the distribution of medical resources.