Swiss OK human cell research
2004-11-28 20:56
Geneva - A large majority of Swiss voters on Sunday approved a new law that allows medical research on stem cells taken from human embryos but rules out cloning, official results from a referendum showed.
More than 66% voted in favour of the law and 33.6% of voters opposed it, national results released through the Swiss news agency ATS said.
The referendum challenging the medical research law adopted by the Swiss parliament in 2003 was launched by anti-abortion and religious groups, which oppose the principle of using "living" human embryos.
"The law on stem cells withdraws the right to life from living, defenceless humans," said Antoine Suarez, an opponent from a bioethics group.
"This kind of idea always leads to the destruction of humanity," he added.
The Swiss government had urged voters to accept the law, saying it set "clear and strict" limits on the use of embryos and stem cells compared to other countries and brought the hope of cures for heart ailments, paralysis and Parkinson's disease.
Cloning
Under the law, all research projects must be passed by ethical and science committees, while the use of specially-produced embryos for research, or any cloning to produce embryos, is forbidden in an attempt to counter abuse.
Researchers will be allowed to use "excess" stocks of embryos produced naturally for artificial insemination as a source for stem cells, the government said.
Britain in August gave the go-ahead for human cloning, granting a licence to scientists to create stem cells for medical research from a cloned human embryo.
Couples whose "excess" embryos are stocked for research purposes also have a right to veto their use under the Swiss law.
Such research is denounced by conservative and religious groups in many countries, which argue that scientists are destroying human life in the course of their experiments.