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UK Parliamentary Report Recommends Animal-Human Hybrids, Sex Selection and More

LONDON, March 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parliamentary members of the British Parliament’s Science and Technology Select Committee presented proposals for changes to existing laws regarding in vitro fertilization and embryo research this week. The report recommends allowing the sex selection of embryos in IVF facilities. Also recommended, in language that chillingly resembles that of early 20th century eugenicists, is that IVF clients be allowed to ‘weed out’ embryos with detectible genetic defects.

The 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act is one of the most permissive in the world, specifically allowing for the creation of clones to be used for stem cell research. Together with the regulating body, the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority, (HFEA) the UK now has one of the world’s most open environments for experimentation on living human beings at the embryonic stage. The HFEA, for example, has recently given permission for scientists to begin cloning human embryos as a source of stem cells.

The new report, nevertheless, is heavily critical of what it calls the ‘precautionary’ approach of the HFEA. Committee members turned classical medical ethics on its head by arguing in their report that new technologies should be used until harm is proved. They suggested that there should be no restrictions placed on any IVF technique until "there is evidence of harms or potential harms" to individuals or society.

The new twist on medical research ethics, however, was condemned by exactly half the committee late last night. Five of the ten committee members branded the report "flawed, unbalanced, light on ethics ... too far in the direction of deregulation ... too dismissive of public opinion and much of the evidence."

Dr. David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, said, "The kind of ethics we see in this report, which is incapable of saying a clear no to anything, is no ethics at all. Even when dealing with human genetic engineering, cloning or the creation of human-animal hybrids, the committee wants to remove existing protections."

Now that utilitarian-based Bioethics has largely replaced classical medical ethics, many legislators are being influenced by the new philosophy. The British report strongly reflects the ethical model of Bioethics which considers the good of the individual to be secondary, as the 18th century founder of Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham put it, to ‘the greatest good for the greatest number.’

The UK pro-life group, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn, (SPUC), issued a press release today calling the report’s recommendations “abhorrent,”

SPUC spokesman, Anthony Ozimic, said, "Fatal discrimination and prejudice are at the heart of this report. Even if young embryos aren't discarded because of their gender, they can still be discarded because of a suspected developmental anomaly. All such diagnosis is discriminatory because it results in the destruction of human life for one reason or another. This sends a shocking message to disabled members of our supposedly caring society.”

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