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It would seem that the US is not the only country containing
substantial numbers of knee-jerk reactionaries.

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Cottingham"
<[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 5:49 AM
Subject: Australia backs stem cell ban call


> The source of this article is The Age: http://tinyurl.com/3k9bw
>
> Australia backs stem cell ban call
> By David Wroe
> Canberra
> March 10, 2005
>
> Page Tools
> Email to a friend Printer format
> Canberra denies a UN vote against therapeutic cloning of stem cells
> pre-empts a local law review due to start in weeks.
>
> Australia has backed a United Nations call for a ban on therapeutic
cloning
> for stem cell research just weeks before an expert panel begins
reviewing
> our own stem cell laws.
>
> Julie Bishop, the federal minister with responsibility for stem cell
> research and cloning, denied that Australia's international stance
> pre-empted the review.
>
> But the Catholic Church, which opposes therapeutic cloning, welcomed
the
> declaration and said it bolstered the case for a ban in Australia.
>
> Therapeutic cloning, in which a human embryo is created and then
destroyed
> for its stem cells after about five days, is now illegal in
Australia.
>
> But laws covering embryo research passed in 2002 are due to lapse
this year
> under a "sunset clause" and therapeutic cloning is one of the key
issues the
> review panel will consider.
>
> Ms Bishop said Australia's support for the UN declaration was
consistent
> with present cloning laws.
>
> "Our support for this declaration does not in any way pre-empt the
review,"
> she said. "To abstain would not have been appropriate given that
that is the
> state of the law in Australia today. It's a political declaration of
the
> (UN) General Assembly. It's not legally binding."
>
> Embryo research is covered by federal and state laws and the review
will
> help guide new legislation.
>
> The Victorian Government said the UN vote broke a federal-state
agreement to
> work together.
>
> "We are extremely concerned about this because at the last health
ministers'
> meeting it was agreed that any change in Australian policy on stem
cell
> research would only happen after the review was completed," a
spokesman for
> Victorian Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said. "Julie Bishop was at
that
> meeting. This seems to flout that agreement."
>
> Scientists say cloning for stem cell research could lead to cures
for
> conditions such as Parkinson's disease.
>
> It is opposed by church leaders and many conservative politicians
because it
> means destroying embryos.
>
> The UN declaration was proposed by Honduras and supported by
Australia, the
> US and predominantly Catholic countries. It was opposed by Britain
and most
> of Europe in an 84 to 34 vote, with 37 abstentions.
>
> Marcia Riordan from the Respect Life Office of the Catholic
Archdiocese of
> Melbourne said Australia's UN vote bolstered the case for a
permanent ban on
> therapeutic cloning.
>
> "As far as we're concerned, all cloning is cloning, whether its
therapeutic
> or (otherwise). Life should never be a commodity," she said.
>
> Megan Munsie, development manager for Stem Cell Sciences Australia,
a
> research company linked to Monash University, said the UN statement
was
> ambiguous but she would have preferred that Australia had abstained,
given
> the imminent review.
>
> "We would have preferred to see the UN take a strong stance against
> reproductive cloning and recognise governments' authority to
regulate
> therapeutic cloning," she said.
>
> At present scientists may use embryos left over from IVF treatment,
which
> would be destroyed, anyway, for stem cell research.
>
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