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U.N. Assembly Puts Off Action on Human Cloning Ban By WARREN HOGE Published: December 9, 2003 UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 9 — The General Assembly today ducked for a year a polarizing debate over human cloning that has set the Bush administration against allies like Britain and large parts of the world's scientific community. All 191 United Nations members agree on a treaty that would prohibit the cloning of human beings but divide over the issue of whether to extend such a ban to stem cell and other research known as therapeutic cloning. Opponents of a total prohibition argue that it would block valuable research and medical advances in treating cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other debilitating conditions. The Bush administration says that enough stem cells from human embryos are already in existence for research, and it argues that cloning an embryo for any reason is unethical. The United States lost a United Nations struggle to pass an all-out ban last month when a substitute measure postponing the debate for two years passed the assembly by one vote. In recent weeks, the United States revived its bid, working in alliance with Costa Rica, the sponsor of the total-ban resolution last month. Science associations and societies flooded the United Nations headquarters with petitions, e-mail messages and other messages of alarm, and the issue had been expected to come up for a new vote today. An American official said this morning that the United States was "not keen to gear up for another fight, but we will go full force behind the Costa Ricans." As it turned out, the Costa Ricans did not press for a vote, and the whole matter was rescheduled for next year's General Assembly calendar. The spokesman for United States ambassador John D. Negroponte, Richard A. Grenell, said the United States was happy to go along with the one-year consensus but would not alter its stance. "The U.S. position on human cloning has not changed," he said. "We will continue to work for a total ban." The American position drew the ire of Britain's deputy ambassador, Adam Thomson. He told the General Assembly, "It is clear there is no consensus in respect to therapeutic cloning research, but by ignoring this fact and pressing for action to ban all cloning, supporters of the Costa Rican resolution have effectively destroyed the possibility of action on the important area on which we are all agreed: a ban on reproductive cloning." The bulk of stem cell research takes place in Britain and the United States, and the United Nations debate has brought forth joint statements objecting to its prohibition from 40 Nobel Prize winners and more than 60 scientific academies, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Medical Association. "We believe that it would be indefensible to stop this research and deny millions of people and their families the chance of new treatments which could save their lives," Mr. Thomson said. A European diplomat expressed doubts that any consensus over the contentious issue would emerge in the coming year. "It's particularly hard to get lasting compromise on issues that involve religions and ethics," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "All the General Assembly has done is put it onto the assembly calendar a year from now, when there will be an all-out clash again. SOURCE: The New York Times http://tinyurl.com/yhoz * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn