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US, VATICAN AND OTHERS ASK FOR INTERNATIONAL TREATY TO BAN ALL HUMAN CLONING

UNITED NATIONS, February 27, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The representative of the United States to the United Nations Committee on an International Convention Against the Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings asked for the treaty to include a global and comprehensive ban on human cloning." Carolyn L. Wilson said that the proposal "to ban only so-called 'reproductive' cloning by prohibiting the transfer of a cloned embryo into a woman in hopes of creating a human baby" is "unsound."

She explained: "A ban that prohibits only 'reproductive' cloning but ignores 'therapeutic' or 'experimental' cloning would essentially authorize the creation and destruction of human embryos explicitly and solely for research and experimentation. It would turn nascent life into a natural resource to be mined and exploited. " Wilson warned that if only a partial ban were in place, "Implantation of cloned embryos would take place out of sight. Once begun, an illicit clonal pregnancy would be virtually impossible to detect and, if detected, governments would be unlikely to compel the pregnancy to be aborted or severely penalize the pregnant woman."

Wilson's comments were supported by the Vatican, Uganda, Spain and Costa Rica among others. However, France and Germany, the countries which sponsored the Committee, said the convention could only arrive at a consensus around reproductive cloning and thus it alone should be banned. This position was supported by China, Portugal, the Nordic countries, and the World Health Organization among others.

See the full UN report on the meeting:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/l2995.doc.htm

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