Cloning bill falls short: bishops

By ART BABYCH

OTTAWA (CCN) — The bishops conference continues to press for changes to long-awaited legislation dealing with cloning, embryonic stem cell research, and other new reproductive technologies even as Parliament inches closer to passing the controversial bill.

In a statement Jan. 29, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) urged MPs to strengthen the bill by amending it to prohibit research on human embryos. “By giving the green light to research on embryos who remain after fertility treatments, Bill C-13 fails to protect the human embryo,” the statement said.

“The problem with embryonic stem-cell research is that while the research has the potential to benefit those living with disease, it actually harms the embryo, who dies in the process. Ultimately, the embryo is exploited for the benefit of others.”

The CCCB statement also supports the bill’s prohibitions on animal/human hybrids, germ-line alteration, and on commercial surrogacy, but calls for strengthening its ban against human cloning to ensure that it “captures all forms and possibilities of cloning.” (For more on C-13 see Page 14.)

As the bill proceeds through third reading, “we pray that Members of Parliament will be given the wisdom and the grace to do what is best for those now living and for those to come,” said the bishops.

Debate on third reading of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act opened in the House of Commons Jan. 28, about 10 years after the release of a royal commission report on new reproductive technologies. The government is hoping for speedy passage even though more than 100 amendments have been proposed, mainly by the Canadian Alliance, the official opposition party.

The bill fails to assert the sanctity of human life, said Canadian Alliance MP Jason Kenney during debate. As well, it “clearly fails to assert the inviolable dignity of the human person,” and “fails to attribute to nascent human life, embryonic human life, the clear status of human life, let alone of personhood,” he said.

Kenney added that the legislation is founded on weak principles “which will lead to weak application of the law if passed.”

None of the parties in the Commons are opposed to banning human cloning. “There is almost a 300 per cent failure rate for any individual cloned,” said Canadian Alliance MP Rob Merrifield. “That means 300 human lives would be sacrificed for one healthy clone.”

Bloc Quebecois MP Real Menard said members of his party “are aware of the urgency of this matter and we realize that we must prohibit cloning for reproductive purposes as quickly as possible.” The BQ is unhappy that the regulatory agency will have an annual budget of $10 million, he said.

Jocelyne Girard-Bujold, another BQ member, said, “As a woman, I think that human conception begins when a sperm and an egg meet. I am very religious and, according to my principles, human beings are created by God.”

Progressive Conservative MP Elsie Wayne said every member should stand up and say that they will not allow embryonic stem-cell research but will allow adult stem cell research. “We will agree to that,” she said. “However no way will we take the life of a child for research.”

Former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day said the issue of research on embryonic stem cells is “an ethical and moral dilemma which confronts, bothers, and troubles many Canadians.” He said the controversy could have been avoided “simply by saying that research and development in this area would be focussed on non-embryonic cells.”

Liberal MP Hedy Fry called the legislation “extraordinary,” adding, “It is the first time that we are setting guidelines and regulations for very important and ground-breaking research.”

She said research should not be inhibited but that it should not be allowed to “carry on galloping at a pace without any regulations and without any way of defining the guidelines within which that research will take place.”

Fry said the bill seeks to set ethical regulations and guidelines that would frame the research.

Draft legislation on assisted human reproductive technologies has been introduced in the House of Commons twice in the past seven years but on both occasions died when the sessions of Parliament were prorogued.

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