U.S.-Backed Anti-Cloning Treaty Defeated

The Bush Administration effort to get the United Nations to support a resolution for a global ban on both therapeutic cloning (to produce transplantable organs and tissues) and reproductive cloning (to produce babies) has apparently been defeated.

Bernard Siegel, head of the Genetics Policy Institute which has been leading the effort against the proposed ban, tells Reuters: "The bottom line is that stem cell research will advance. This declaration will not chill stem cell research."

Comments

[Ben]

Except that it was backed by our government Rick. I figure they would then enforce it here. Remember--UN doing what White House wants legitimate, UN disagreeing with White House illegitimate.

[DavePotts]

I tend to agree that a UN ban should have no effect on research here in the US. What I do think is positive, though, is that the neo-luddites of the Bush administration were stopped in their tracks when they tried to use the machine of the UN (which conservatives say they oppose) to further their political agenda. If they really dislike the idea of the United Nations having such over-reaching power, then why try to use that entity to their advantage? My humble guess is that the administration doesn't really find the idea of a powerful international ruling body so reprehensible, as long as they have a heavy measure of influence over it.

[deron]

Dave, kinda how they feel about a the federal government?

[Ronald Bailey]

Rick,

The idea is that a UN treaty would be negotiated and then the Bush Administration would try to get the Senate to ratify it, thus making it US law.

Also, having lived in the developing world, I came to understand that having the UN condemn the research would have a weirdly disproportionate negative effect on public opinion around the world. It would serve as a stick for opponents to say "the whole world condemns this research as immoral, yet the US is going alone as a rogue cloning state" or some such, which again would have a chilling effect on the research and debates here at home.