Australia bans human cloning

Following a summit meeting between the leaders of the six states and two territories of Australia, an agreement has been reached to uniformly ban human reproductive cloning across the country. The Prime Minister, John Howard, said that the leaders had agreed to the national ban, following legislation already in place in three states, but would not ban the cloning of embryos for stem cell research. Howard said that Australian health ministers would 'consult widely with scientists, medical researchers and ordinary Australians' before deciding on a national approach to stem cell research and therapeutic cloning.

Australia is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, which states that reproductive cloning is wrong as it is against human dignity. Howard said that there was a delicate balance between 'the legitimate ethical concerns people have, particularly in relation to the destruction of embryos, and the desire to gather and harness all the benefits available from medical science'. Australian scientists have urged the Prime Minister to follow in the UK's footsteps and continue to allow research into stem cells and therapeutic cloning. A report from health ministers is expected by the end of the year, as a national agreement on the future approach to medical technologies is wanted for the end of 2002.