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Tuesday April 8, 2003
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UK COURT OF APPEALS OVERTURNS HIGH COURT BAN ON 'DESIGNER BABIES'
LONDON, April 8, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The UK Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision from last year which banned the creation of 'designer babies'. The court overturned a ban on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) issuing a licence for human tissue typing following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in order to treat thalassaemia sufferer Zain Hashmi.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) warned that the ruling "is the thin edge of the wedge to allowing embryos to be created and selected for non-medical reasons. Many embryos will now be created - and die - in this unethical search for genetically desirable children."
SPUC general secretary Paul Tully said: "SPUC has great sympathy for the Hashmis and other families carrying potentially harmful genetic conditions. The development of ethical means of treating these conditions, such as the use of combination immuno-suppressant regimes to facilitate tissue transplants, must be prioritised, instead of diverting resources into scientifically interesting, but legally and morally unacceptable techniques."
The UK fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), was thrilled with the decision. The court viewed the process of embryos created en masse, selected by tissue type and then the matching embryo implanted while the rest are killed, as a way to prevent disease. "Clearly clinicians cannot always prevent disease, but if they are able to and also save the life of a sibling, then this is a legitimate use of new techniques," said HFEA head Suzi Leather.
SPUC also said it was "deplorable to use the suffering of families and children as a means of emotional blackmail to demand that human embryos in the test-tube can be chopped up, tested and discarded as if they were inert samples from an industrial chemical process."
See the coverage of the ruling from the New Scientist:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993600
See related LifeSite coverage:
UK FERTILITY AUTHORITY OKAYS DESIGNER BABY SELECTION
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/feb/02022502.html
UK PRO-LIFER WINS HIGH COURT CASE AGAINST DESIGNER BABIES
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/dec/02122005.html
BRITISH COUPLE WANTS DESIGNER BABY FOR SPARE PARTS
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jan/03010904.html
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