SYDNEY ~ Lawmakers in Australia’s most populous state voted on Thursday to overturn a ban on the use of cloned human embryos for stem cell research, despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church.

Controversial new legislation allowing therapeutic cloning was passed in New South Wales by 65 votes to 26.

It will allow researchers to clone human embryos to extract stem cells in the hope of one day finding cures for debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cystic fibrosis.