Nashwan, pull yer head out of yer Ass! There is no Ban.
No, there is no ban yet.
However, the US is pushing hard for a ban in the UN. The vote was lpostponed last year, and is probably due for another vote this month.
The ban is on Federal Money only! How many times does it have to be said before you understand!
I understand perfectly.
Perhaps the following stories will help you understand that whilst there is no ban at the moment, the US government is trying to get a ban:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3609992.stmhttp://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994359http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994471Of course, once it's banned in the UN the US will need to bring in a ban in the US, but it seems odd to try to get a UN vote for a ban if you have no intention of then enforcing it in the US.
This isn't to try to get a ban on government funding, it's to try to criminalise cloning embryos. From the draft Costa Rican resolution:
Article 2
Scope of application (definition of the crime)
1. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that
person intentionally engages in an action, such as somatic cell nuclear transfer or embryo-splitting, resulting in the creation of a living organism, at any stage of physical development, that is genetically virtually identical to an existing or previously existing human organism.
Article 3
Obligation to criminalize
Each State Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary:
(a) To establish as criminal offences under its domestic law the offences set
forth in article 2;
(b) To make those offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take
into account the grave nature of the offences.
Is this a "simple majority" vote or what?
I think so. I'm fairly sure it's not absolutely binding, thankfully.
In any event, it sounds like it isn't ONLY the US that doesn't agree.
No, it certainly isn't. The motion is being put forward by Costa Rica, and backed by the US.
The list of countries that backed a resolution last year to force a cloning ban this year (ie they tabled a resolution last year to reconvene this year to force a ban):
Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Sierra Leone, Spain, Suriname, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Zambia.
