GLOBE and MAIL Britain gives green
light to embryo cloning London — Britain's House of Lords backed new government rules on Monday to allow limited cloning of human embryos, turning a deaf ear to religious leaders from across the spectrum who had urged them to oppose the measures. Peers in parliament's upper chamber voted by 212 to 92 to allow research using stem cells to develop treatments for killer diseases such as leukaemia, Parkinson's and cancer. Debate raged for seven hours but as MPs in the elected House of Commons passed the order by a majority of two to one late last year, it will now become law. Prime Minister Tony Blair argued the move would allow Britain to stay at the forefront of the booming biotechnology industry. But right-to-life groups and religious leaders say it is the first step down a slippery slope to full human cloning. Independent peer Lord Alton, a "pro-life" campaigner, released a letter from Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and Britain's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, urging parliament to set aside the laws. Lord Alton said the government was railroading the order through parliament without proper scrutiny and proposed a motion that would freeze the legislation until a special committee had heard exhaustive evidence from experts. "It is precisely because we need to consider these things in detail that we shouldn't be stampeded into making decisions," he said, adding that Britain was now out on an international limb. "There are many strong ethical and scientific arguments which may be deployed against cloning techniques but we are also strongly at variance with international opinion," |