Emergency legislation to ban reproductive human cloning was being rushed through the House of Lords last night to remove a legal flaw in embryology research.
With a US company claiming at the weekend it had successfully cloned a human embryo and the High Court ruling earlier this month that human cloning was not illegal, the British government moved quickly to outlaw the implantation of cloned human embryos into the womb.
Under the new legislation, which some pro-choice groups argue does not go far enough and will allow scientists to evade sanction, it will be an offence to "place in the womb of a woman a human embryo that has been created other than by fertilisation".
Anybody convicted under the proposed law will be liable to up to 10 years in prison and a large fine or both. However, the legislation does not ban therapeutic cloning for research, the technique used by the US company, Advanced Cell Technology, to produce the cloned embryo.
The Bill is expected to complete its Commons stages on Thursday and the Department of Health expects the law will be in place before Christmas.
The government will also challenge the High Court's decision that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority does not have the power under current legislation to implement a ban on human cloning.
But the pro-choice group, Pro-Life Alliance, has argued that the Bill fails to mention the possible gestation of cloned embryos in animals and men, both of which could soon be scientifically possible, and has called for a temporary ban on all forms of human cloning to draft comprehensive legislation.
However, the Health Minister, Lord Hunt, said the government was "absolutely justified" in rushing through the human cloning Bill, but stressed Ministers were still committed to therapeutic cell cloning to help find cures for illnesses such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Responding to the US company's claimed breakthrough, Lord Hunt said: "What their announcement does is show the potential and the risk. I am very keen to see therapeutic cloning, because I believe it offers us the cure for many long-term illnesses, but it needs to be regulated."
The EU yesterday said it was opposed to human cloning such as that claimed in the US. A European Commission spokeswoman said the commission would not finance research into human cloning, but would support stem cell research involving aborted foetuses or surplus foetuses left over from test-tube fertilisation. She said legislation on medical ethics and health remains the domain of each EU member-state. Treaties on blood transfusion and food safety are the only exceptions.