PERU OUTLAWS HUMAN CLONING

June 14, 1997

LIMA (Reuter) -- Peru has become the first Latin American nation to ban human cloning in a new health law passed by Congress, legislators said Friday.

"Cloning of human beings goes against people's individuality. The (law's) aim is to avoid creating unnatural procreation," said Miguel Velit, president of Congress' health committee.

Congress included the ban in a new General Health Law passed late Thursday after Peruvians were shocked by reports that experiments abroad had indicated human cloning might be possible.