UNITED NATIONS—After years of trying to hammer out a resolution on human cloning, the legal committee of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday (November 19) considered the possibility of a non-binding declaration that asks member states to prohibit reproductive cloning and adopt legislation to respect "human dignity."
The UN has been trying to reach agreement on a stance on cloning for more than 2 years, during which time the 191 member states were split between two resolutions. The first, put forth by Costa Rica, proposed a total ban on all forms of cloning. Another submitted by Belgium recommended a ban on human reproductive cloning and left the decision about therapeutic cloning up to individual states.
The newest proposal, submitted by Italy, emerged from last-minute negotiations between the two sides of disagreement. "A text has emerged which seems to have a broad support of the member states," the Italian representative ...
