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Posted on Dec 27, 2003, 9 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
The US and Costa Rican governments are trying to overturn a recent UN decision to defer consideration of a global cloning ban until 2005. The US and several other Catholic nations want the UN to ban human and therapeutic cloning, however they were outvoted at a recent meeting of the assembly's legal committee when members voted 80 to 79 to postpone any debate on cloning for two years.
The US and Costa Rican governments are trying to overturn a recent UN decision to defer consideration of a global cloning ban until 2005. The US and several other Catholic nations want the UN to ban human and therapeutic cloning, however they were outvoted at a recent meeting of the assembly's legal committee when members voted 80 to 79 to postpone any debate on cloning for two years. However, it appears that the Bush administration and its supporters, which include Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, were encouraged by the one-vote margin and are pushing for another vote to be held as soon as possible. Some diplomats believe that the UN will compromise and may delay drafting of the treaty for one year instead of the original two. Britain, France, Japan, South Africa, and more than 30 other nations are opposed to the US led ban. They are pushing for a partial ban that will ban human cloning but allow the use of cells cloned from human embryos for research into therapeutic cloning.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 8th December 2003.
