UN committee approves international declaration against human cloning

UN committee approves international declaration against human cloning
21 February 2005 – An international declaration calling for a ban on human cloning has been approved in a contentious vote by the main United Nations Legal Committee.
The “Sixth Committee” voted 71 in favor to 35 against ? with 43 abstentions ? to pass the text along to the General Assembly for formal adoption. The declaration calls for countries to prohibit all forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.
The United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning was approved after earlier efforts failed to elaborate a binding international treaty on the practice.
In its resolution, the Sixth Committee also called for the adoption of all measures necessary to protect human life in the application of life sciences, and to prohibit the application of genetic engineering techniques that may be contrary to human dignity.
While there was widespread agreement over the need to ban human reproductive cloning, the issue was hotly debated. Friday's vote was no exception.