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U.N. to Debate Human Cloning NewsMax.com WiresUNITED NATIONS -- U.N. members on both sides of the bitterly divisive debate over human cloning will try to agree Monday on a declaration urging countries to adopt legislation banning attempts to create human life. The informal group set up by the U.N. General Assembly in November is trying to negotiate a nonbinding statement to guide countries on cloning and embryonic stem cell research. The United States and a group of mostly developing nations are pushing for stricter policies, while European countries and Japan want leeway for scientific research. Story Continues Below The 191-nation world body abandoned efforts last year to agree on a legally binding treaty because of the deep split among members. One draft treaty - supported by Costa Rica, the United States and more than 60 other mainly developing countries - would have banned all human cloning in all countries that ratified it. On Friday, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity: "We continue to advocate our long-standing position that all human cloning is wrong. We are proud of our efforts to prevent human cloning which is an affront to human dignity." A rival draft introduced by Belgium and supported by more than 20 countries _ including Japan and many European nations _ would have banned reproductive cloning and allowed governments to decide whether to allow some stem cell and other research. But the two sides were unable to find a compromise. With the Belgians threatening to delay action for a year, the General Assembly's legal committee decided to seek a political declaration instead of a treaty. It accepted a proposed text offered by Italy as the basis for the closed-door discussions that will take place Monday, Tuesday and Friday. The draft proposal calls on member states to adopt and implement national legislation banning attempts to create human life through cloning, and it also calls on countries to prohibit genetic engineering techniques contrary to human dignity. But there are still deep divisions over the Italian text, which calls on nations to "prohibit any attempt at the creation of human life through cloning and any research intended to achieve that aim." Belgium objects to using "human life" because it fears that could be interpreted to ban all forms of human cloning. It would prefer the language "human being" to be used, U.N. diplomats said on condition of anonymity. © 2005 The Associated Press
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