7 Dec 2006 by Michael Harvey

The ban on embryonic cloning for medical research was overturned in Federal Parliament amid emotional scenes last night.

The House of Representatives passed a private member's Bill introduced by former health minister Kay Patterson 82 votes to 62.

The Bill's supporters say it offers hope of cures for leukemia, motor neurone disease, cystic fibrosis and other disorders.

The Bill was the subject of a rare conscience vote and had already passed the Senate. An amendment to stop the use of eggs from aborted fetuses was defeated.

In a day of anguished debate yesterday, MPs wrestled with prospects of life-saving cures versus the moral dilemma of experimenting on specially created embryos.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd held back tears as he recalled his mother, who died after battling Parkinson's disease. "Mum died two years ago, so she's not here to ask for this one," he said.

The Labor leader opposed the legislation – as did Prime Minister John Howard, Treasurer Peter Costello and Health Minister Tony Abbott.

Supporters included Defence Minister Brendan Nelson and another former health minister, Carmen Lawrence.

All acknowledged moral and emotional difficulties at the heart of one of the most sensitive debates to come before Parliament.

The legislation overturns the 2002 ban on therapeutic cloning – the process of creating embryos for the sole purpose of harvesting stem cells for medical research.

Mr Howard said his decision to oppose the Bill had not been easy. He said he recognised Christian people of good conscience could reach different conclusions on the legislation.

"I don't think the science has shifted enough to warrant the Parliament changing its view and for that reason I'm going to vote against the Bill," the PM said.

But Dr Nelson said the legislation was a chance to give hope to sufferers of chronic diseases. Dr Nelson said his brother, who died two years ago from a chronic disease, lived his last years "inspired and energised" by a "quixotic" search for a cure.

"There is no such thing as false hope – there is only hope," he said. He rejected claims researchers were offering false hope to sufferers.

Dr Lawrence said there was "no doubt" stem cell research offered considerable promise.

Mr Costello rejected arguments a cloned embryo did not have the same value as one formed to become a human being.

"According to this argument, the fact that an embryo is marked for death at the outset deprives it of moral significance," he said. "This appears to me to be rather a self-serving argument."

Mr Rudd acknowledged his opposition would not be popular with sufferers of chronic diseases. "But I have to be true to myself," he said. "I find it very difficult to support a legal regime which results in the creation of a form of human life for the single and explicit purpose of conducting experimentation on that form."

Previous legislation permitted extraction of stem cells from spare IVF embryos but banned therapeutic cloning.

Therapeutic cloning is a process by which the nucleus of a patient's skin cell is implanted in an egg. The new cell develops into an embryo from which stem cells are taken to grow new tissue.