UN still deeply divided on cloning declaration

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U.N. diplomats failed to reach agreement ahead of Friday’s deadline on a nonbinding declaration that would urge governments to adopt laws on human cloning and be acceptable to both friends and foes of stem-cell research, diplomats said on Thursday.

The lack of a consensus in the U.N. General Assembly’s legal committee means the panel is likely to narrowly adopt a proposal put forward by Italy that is opposed by supporters of stem-cell research, the diplomats said.

But advocates of stem-cell studies argued that the text, which would next go to the 191-nation General Assembly, would not affect such research as it was not legally binding.

“We’re now just dealing with a weak declaration that has no political effect,” said one diplomat whose government strongly supports stem-cell studies.

“It obviously won’t affect those countries that want to continue with the research,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At the heart of the committee debate is medical research relying on so-called therapeutic cloning, in which human embryos are cloned to obtain the cells used in the studies and are later discarded.

Many scientists say the technique holds out the hope of a cure for some 100 million people with such conditions as Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes and spinal cord injury.

But the United States, Costa Rica and other governments have argued they view this type of research, for whatever purpose, as the taking of human life.

The current deliberations are a follow-up to a failed initiative to draft a binding global treaty banning human cloning, dating back to 2001.

That attempt faltered after the Bush administration fought to broaden the ban to all cloning of human embryos, including therapeutic cloning. The U.S. campaign ran out of steam last November when the legal committee remained deeply divided on the issue despite years of debate.

In its place, Italy proposed the assembly adopt a nonbinding declaration calling on nations to pass laws “to prohibit any attempts to create human life through cloning processes and any research intended to achieve that aim.”

While proponents of embryonic stem-cell studies objected to the term “human life,” all sides agreed the text could form the basis of a week of negotiations in the legal committee, which began last Monday. 

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