The Harbinger
OUR SECOND ISSUE:
East Ramapo: A School District In Need of State Oversight, by Alexis Piazza
Waking Up the Caring Majority: Why We All Need to Care About the Aging of America, by Ai-jen Poo
Making an Impact: An Interview with New Economy Project Attorney Susan Shin, by Susan Shin
Book Excerpt: Kenji Yoshino, Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial, by Kenji Yoshino
Justice Is Possible, But You Have to Believe It, by Vince Warren
Leveraging Civil Legal Services: Using Economic Research and Social Impact Bonds to Close the Justice Gap, by Ben Notterman
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The Proper Role of Morality in State Policies on Sexual Orientation and Intimate Relationships
Carlos A. Ball
Cloning and the LGBTI Family: Cautious Optimism
Erez Aloni
Cloning cell-line colonies using cloning rings
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and intersex couples who wish to start a family currently have limited options. These options—adoption, assistive reproductive technology, and co-parenting—require a third party and thus present legal and logistical hurdles. Cloning would offer a unique opportunity for GLBTI parents to bear children who share their genes, with minimal third party involvement.
Currently, the federal government is banned from funding research on cloning. This article argues that such a ban violates the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution. Because the federal government funds fertility research that enables heterosexual couples to bear children who share their genes, banning the most promising technology for helping LGBTI couples achieve the same result amounts to unconstitutional discrimination. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that the legislature is under no obligation to “subsidize the exercise of a fundamental right,” it cannot discriminate in providing funding for the same purpose to different groups.
This article shows why traditional arguments against cloning are fundamentally flawed and argues for government funding of cloning research. As the author demonstrates, heterosexist beliefs about what families should look like motivate most opposition to cloning, though these beliefs may be disguised in neutral or scientific language.
N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change 