Australia lifts ban on human embryo cloning

AUSTRALIA’S parliament yesterday lifted a ban on cloning human embryos for stem cell research despite opposition from the prime minister and other party leaders.

The legislation was approved by a vote of 82 to 62 in the House of Representatives. It was passed by the Senate last month.

Supporting the legislation, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said his generation had benefited enormously from the perseverance and judgement of these who had pioneered difficult research and legislation.

“We owe it to the next generation no less to show the same wisdom and indeed the same courage,” Mr Nelson said.

The party leaders were among the final speakers in a divisive debate which began in the lower house.

“I’ve decided to vote against this legislation for the reason that, in the end, you have to take a stand for some absolutes in our society,” Prime Minister John Howard told parliament.

“And I think what we’re talking about here is a moral absolute and that is why I can’t support the legislation.”

Opposition Labour Party Leader Kevin Rudd later said he had similarly wrestled with his conscience over the legislation and decided he could not support it.

“I find it very difficult to support a legal regime that results in the creation of a form of human life for the single and explicit purpose of conducting experimentation on that form of human life,” Mr Rudd said.

All parties encouraged their legislators to vote according to their consciences rather than following party lines. A conscience vote is rare in Australian politics.

The bill passed allows for therapeutic cloning: the splicing of skin cells with eggs to produce stem cells or master cells, which are capable of forming all the tissues of the human body.