Australian Senate votes to overturn stem cell ban

CANBERRA, Nov 8 (Reuters) Australia's Senate voted to allow cloned stem cells to be used for medical research after an emotional and divisive debate on relaxing restrictions on research.

The bill passed by two votes in the 76-seat Senate and will now go to the lower house of parliament in late November, where supporters believe they can muster the numbers to overturn existing bans on research on cloned stem cells.

Australia's conservative prime minister allowed a rare free vote on the issue, meaning lawmakers were not bound by their party's stance, but has yet to say how he will vote on the bill in the House of Representatives.

Church and right-to-life groups strongly opposed the legislation, which split all parties in parliament, but was supported by prominent researchers including Ian Frazer, whose research led to a vaccine for cervical cancer.

''This process really, deeply troubles me,'' ruling Liberal Party Senator Gary Humphries told parliament yesterday.

''With this legislation we accept the concept that it is acceptable for one human being, albeit in a pre-birth state, to be used and then destroyed for the therapeutic benefit of another.'' But the Liberal Party's Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone supported the bill and told parliament it offered scientists a chance to find cures for a range of disabilities.

''Science offers hope to humanity, to all of us, to the planet,'' Senator Vanstone said. ''We have the capacity to control that. That is what we are elected to do.'' The legislation will allow research on stem cells created by cloning techniques, but will continue bans on importing or exporting cloned embryos, and will maintain a ban on placing a cloned embryo into a human body or the body of an animal.

Embryos cloned for research would also have to be destroyed within 14 days.

Australia introduced strict limits on embryonic stem cell research in 2002, only allowing research on left-over embryos from IVF programmes under legislation that mirrors laws in the United States.

Moves to expand embryonic stem cell research in the United States failed in July when President George W. Bush used his veto to knock down new laws.

An Australian government review of laws in late 2005 said scientists should be allowed to harvest embryos for stem cell research but Prime Minister John Howard, a moral conservative, and his cabinet voted to continue the restrictions.

Conscience votes are rare and have had mixed results in Australia's parliament, where party discipline ensures lawmakers usually vote along party lines.

In 1997, a conscience vote backed Howard's stand to ban voluntary euthanasia. But a conscience vote in February this year went against Howard to allow wider use of the controversial abortion drug RU-486.

REUTERS PB VC0846