A key U.N. committee has postponed for a year a Franco-German proposal for a global ban on human cloning that the United States has rejected as too narrow.
The panel acted after a U.S.-led drive to broaden the proposal to ban all research cloning of human embryos picked up the support of more than 30 nations, forcing Paris and Berlin to abandon their push for a new treaty to be ready for ratification by early 2004.
"All we have is a deferral of a discussion," Jeanne Head of the International Right to Life Federation told journalists today. "If we hadn't deferred, we would end up with no ban at all as it would divide the committee."
George Annas, professor of public health and bioethics at Boston University and a champion of a treaty on cloning, called the decision "a shame."
"The delay will give France and Germany another year to persuade people that there is something worthwhile in research cloning, and that you can conduct such research without making babies," Annas told Reuters.
"As research cloning is now already under way in many parts of the world including the United States, the delay means that scientists everywhere including in the United States can continue such research for at least another year," he added.
A U.S. official earlier called the decision by the U.N. General Assembly's legal committee a major victory for Washington at the United Nations, saying, "We very strongly feel that no decision is better than a bad decision."
French and German diplomats portrayed the manoeuvre as a temporary setback in their campaign for an international agreement outlawing the cloning of human beings.
At issue was whether a treaty should ban solely the cloning of humans, as called for by Paris and Berlin, or whether it should also ban "therapeutic" or "experimental" cloning, in which human embryos are cloned for medical research purposes.
Scientists generally oppose restrictions on their research as a matter of principle and many argue that studies such as those involving stem cells derived from embryos could one day save human lives.
But U.S. anti-abortion groups argue such studies amount to murder because the embryos are destroyed.
"It's a 'clone-and-kill' bill," said Head, speaking of the ban proposed by Paris and Berlin.
France and Germany initially claimed support for their approach from the vast majority of the United Nations' 191 member-states.
But at the urging of anti-abortion groups, Washington began pushing hard earlier this year for a treaty that would ban both types of cloning. It eventually claimed support for its rival initiative from more than 30 countries.
"It is true that it is the domestic policy of the United States, but it is not just the United States," said Head, saying there was broad support around the world for the U.S. stance.
The two opposing factions had initially intended to ask the U.N. committee to choose between rival draft resolutions.
But at the last minute, envoys from France, Germany, the United States, Spain and the Philippines agreed to end their dispute and put off the drafting for a year.
The General Assembly first voted to draft a treaty last year, after Italian fertility specialist Severino Antinori announced his intention to become the first scientist to clone a human being.
Numerous researchers have since claimed progress in research into the mechanics of cloning animals as well as humans, their organs and cells. But none so far has boasted of fashioning human clones in a laboratory.