Friday Fax

February 18, 2005
Volume 8, Special Report

UN Adopts Pro-Life Declaration Against Human Cloning

In a monumental victory for the pro-life movement, the UN today
adopted a declaration condemning human cloning. The UN called on Member
States to adopt urgent legislation outlawing all cloning practices "as
they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human
life."

Costa Rica, which led the effort for a cloning ban, called the
declaration a success for those who seek to promote ethical scientific
research.

“This is a powerful message to the world that this morally
questionable procedure is outside the bounds of acceptable
experimentation,” said Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and
Human Rights Institute, one of the main NGOs involved in the negotiation.
“By adopting this declaration, the international community is united in
condemning all human cloning as exploitative and unethical. This should
encourage similar bans in legislatures around the world including in the
US Senate,” said Ruse.

The declaration, introduced today by Honduras, came on the last day
of a week-long special session devoted entirely to resolving this issue.
The declaration proved at the last minute to be an acceptable compromise
to countries that have appeared staunchly divided all week. The
declaration also marks the end of three years of UN deadlock over human
cloning.

Countries were divided mainly over whether to protect “human life” or
the “human being.” Costa Rica, Uganda, the United States and others who
sought to ban all forms of human cloning, supported “human life.”
Countries including Belgium, Singapore and the United Kingdom, who wanted
to ban only cloning that would result in born human beings, insisted on
protecting the “human being,” which according to some international legal
documents would protect only those already born.

The declaration also calls on countries to "prevent the exploitation
of women." Cloning requires harvesting eggs from women, and delegates from
developing countries feared their women being turned into inexpensive "egg
farms." The declaration calls on wealthier nations to direct attention and
funding to pressing medical issues such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria. It also condemns all applications of any genetic engineering
techniques that threaten human dignity.

The declaration sets an international ethical standard that sends a
clear signal to countries that encourage human cloning. For instance, in
the United Kingdom, two "licenses" for research cloning have been issued.
The first is currently subject to a legal challenge on the basis that the
cloning "license" is unlawful and unnecessary. It is due to be heard in
the High Court shortly. Cloning opponents in the United Kingdom welcomed
the UN's resolution and look forward to Member States fulfilling their
international obligations.

Copyright 2005 – C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
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New York, New York 10017
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E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org