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British Cloning Juggernaut to be Challenged in Court

LONDON, November 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In October, LifeSiteNews.com reported that Professor Alison Murdoch and Dr. Miodrag Stojkovic of Centre for Life had received permission from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to go ahead with cloning experiments.

British law allows the creation of embryos by a cloning method called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT), for purposes of creating embryonic human beings to be mined for their stem cells. Thus far the HFEA has been among the world's most permissive regulatory agencies and has made a string of decisions allowing cloning, genetic selection and sex selection of embryos.

Now a pro-life group is challenging the embryo experimentation juggernaut in court. Solicitors have served an application for a judicial review of the HFEA's decision. "We wrote to the HFEA prior to the issuing of the license expressing our concerns and requesting further details of the license application," said David Foster of Barlows Solicitors.

Julia Millington of the Pro-Life Alliance said it was supporting the legal challenge. "We wrote to the HFEA prior to the issuing of the license expressing our concerns and requesting further details of the license application. Such information was not forthcoming and we welcome the fact that this legal challenge will address concerns regarding the lack of transparency in the HFEA's decision-making processes, as well as legality of the license itself."

She added, "Human cloning is profoundly unethical, particularly when the cloned embryos are manufactured for their constituent parts and thereafter destroyed. The HFEA has power to grant human cloning licences but only if certain rigorous conditions are met. We believe that this license does not fulfill the conditions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act."

Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage of HFEA actions:
UK Scientists Go Ahead with Human Cloning While UN Debates
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/oct/04102103.html

UK Court of Appeals Overturns High Court Ban on 'Designer Babies'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/apr/03040803.html

UK to Consider Payment for Ova up to £1000
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04111107.html

British Scientist was Given Secret License to Experiment on Human Embryos
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/dec/02121103.html

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