JURIST - Paper Chase: Australia ends ban on stem cell cloning

[JURIST] The Australian Parliament [official website] Wednesday voted to lift restrictions on stem cell research and permit the therapeutic cloning of human embryos. Members of the House of Representatives voted 82-62 in favor of lifting the previous therapeutic cloning ban; the Senate approved the measure [JURIST report] last month. The House vote followed a contentious debate, with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and other Liberal Party leaders expressing opposition to the bill for moral reasons. In August, Howard agreed [JURIST report] to hold a conscience vote [SAVES backgrounder] on the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006 [legislative materials], meaning members were not bound by party policy.

Australia's parliament voted in 2002 to allow researchers to extract stem cells from extra embryos originally intended for use in in vitro fertilization, but did not permit the use of those cells in cloning. AP has more.

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