[Howardh]

Stem cell bill passes Senate
November 7, 2006 - 1:53PM

The legal ban on human embryo cloning in Australia is likely to be lifted after the Senate voted narrowly to support the change.

The legislation was passed by 34 votes to 31, with several senators absent.

It is now expected to gain backing in the House of Representatives after further debate in the Senate on amendments including one to toughen penalties for any breach of the regulations governing cloning.

The vote came after a barrage of conflicting speeches by dozens of senators.

Former Health Minister Senator Kay Patterson, who put up the private member's bill arguing for the change, was the last to speak before the vote and appealed to senators not to stand in the way of regulated medical research that could offer cures for the future.

The bill would allow researchers to clone human embryos to extract their stem cells, in the hope of one day finding cures for debilitating diseases.

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