On Oct. 21, 2004, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan indicated that he supports human cloning for research purposes.
Most of European nations are in agreement with Mr. Annan as they reject human cloning ban proposal.
"Obviously it is an issue for the member-states to decide, but as an individual and in my personal view, I think I would go for therapeutic cloning," Annan told reporters on Oct 21.
Therapeutic cloning means cloning embryos to harvest its stem cells before the embryos are 2 weeks old, after which they are destroyed.
Therapeutic cloning has been allowed in the UK for the last two years, but not in the USA. Reproductive cloning is banned in the UK.
In late 2003, Costa Rica proposed to pass a complete cloning ban. The United Nations voted in December to delay the decision for a year. This year, along side with Costa Rica, the U.S will vote in favor of a total ban treaty.
In a speech delivered on Sept. 21, President Bush urged the United Nations to support his position on human cloning.
"In this session, the U.N. will consider a resolution sponsored by Costa Rica calling for a comprehensive ban on human cloning. I support that resolution and urge all governments to affirm a basic ethical principle: No human life should ever be produced or destroyed for the benefit of another," he said.
Meanwhile, The Royal Society, UK, is urging the UN to ignore George Bush's call to ban all forms of human cloning. At the same time, the International Society for Stem Cell Research sent a letter on Monday to the General Assembly asking members not to adopt a measure that would bring an end to all forms of human cloning.
Currently, the United States has no federal cloning law, but New Jersey and California have regulations permitting therapeutic cloning and prohibiting reproductive cloning.
Some countries that allow cloning are Singapore, China and South Korea.
