New South Wales is likely to join the growing list of governments to have banned the reproductive cloning of humans. A Sydney newspaper reported today that NSW Health Minister Andrew Refshauge called for legislation to outlaw reproductive human and animal cloning, as well as the fertilization of animals with human sperm.
Australian states enjoy a high degree of legislative autonomy from the federal government.
The Minister simultaneously called for the prohibition of trans-species fertilization, using the fertilization of gorillas with human sperm as an example. Scottish Scientists announced a successful cloning of an adult ewe in February.