Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy Volume 17 Article 4 Issue 1 Symposium on Bioethics 1-1-2012 Creating Clones, Kids & (and) Chimera: Liberal Democratic Compromise at the Crossroads Nathan A. Adams IV Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp Recommended Citation Nathan A. Adams IV, Creating Clones, Kids & (and) Chimera: Liberal Democratic Compromise at the Crossroads, 17 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 71 (2003). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol17/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. CREATING CLONES, KIDS & CHIMERA: LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC COMPROMISE AT THE CROSSROADS NATHAN A. ADAMS, IV* I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king if thou wilt also perform thy part, that which thou owest me.1 Most agree that biotechnology is leading to a revolution in medicine. Less appreciated is the challenge biotechnology poses to the prevailing liberal democratic consensus pertaining to health and welfare. Biotechnology necessarily impinges upon key health and welfare doctrines at the core of our collective understanding of what it means to advance personal autonomy, self-determination, liberty, and equality within a market economy. Supporters are confident that the biotechnological industry will affirm these values and channel potentially life-saving bio- technological innovations in directions harmless to all but the human embryo.2 They favor essentially a self-regulated industry, where medical professionals decide whether and when to create or modify human clones, kids, and chimera.3 In contrast, oppo- nents of biotechnology fear the natural inclination of the market * Nathan A.