] A global ban on all medical applications of human cloning
] was averted by an eleventh-hour deal at the United
] Nations on Tuesday. Last-minute haggling in the aisles of
] the UN General Assembly in New York sealed a compromise
] which postpones debate on a cloning treaty until October
] 2004.
]
] A total ban, backed by the US, the Vatican and other
] Catholic countries, would have caused a deep rift with
] nations such as the UK and the Netherlands that want the
] right to pursue new medical treatments from cloning.
]
] All countries want a UN treaty that will ban the creation
] of cloned human babies. But a US-backed proposal put
] forward by Costa Rica sought to extend the ban to
] "therapeutic" cloning. This aims to use stem cells from
] cloned embryos to treat diseases such as Parkinson's
] disease, but requires the embryo to be destroyed.

Good god. I am glad I have been too distracted by finals to hear about this until now - a full ban on therapuetic cloning would be dumb

New Scientist - Global therapeutic cloning ban averted