By Hilary White
LONDON, January 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The House of Lords refused to reject clauses in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill that allow for the creation of and experimentation on human/animal hybrid embryos. The bill went before the Lords last night while Christians and other objectors protested outside.
The Lords defeated an amendment to the bill that would have prohibited the creation of inter-species embryos, by 268 votes to 96, a majority of 172.
Although the Lords have only two days allocated for debate, there continues to be strong opposition to the bill. Lord Tebbit, the former Conservative Party chairman, said peers faced a “deep ethical dilemma” over “unnatural” experiments. He was joined by objections from some Ecclesiastical Peers, including the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who said earlier that the bill’s provisions represented an “instrumental” view of humanity.
Lord Tebbit said, “These are matters that are more of ethics than of technology. Because something is scientifically possible does not mean that it should be done.”
“Because it might bring great benefits to particular people does not mean it should be done. If we accept arguments of that kind we are effectively saying that the end justifies the means.”
Lord Alton, the Liberal Democrat peer, said, “I have always believed that life begins at conception, and after that I don’t believe we should destroy life.”
While attempts to amend the bill have failed, pro-life advocates have said that the bill in its entirety must be defeated, resting as it does on the concept that human beings may be created and destroyed at will for experimentation.
John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said despite efforts to amend, “Unfortunately, the bill is so fundamentally flawed, no amendments can make it ethical.”
“Whatever amendments may be agreed, pro-life supporters should lobby parliamentarians to urge them to oppose the bill in principle and as a whole, in particular by voting against the bill at the later, crucial stages of Third Reading in the House of Lords and at Second and Third Readings in the House of Commons.”
Lord Morrow, chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party, said of the bill, “The sanctity of human life is an issue which transcends any party political considerations. We tinker with the delicate fabric of human life at our peril and any moves which would undermine or reduce the value which we place on it must be resisted at all costs.”
Meanwhile the Catholic Bishops of Scotland, in a Pastoral Letter to be sent to all 500 Catholic parishes in Scotland this week, will urge the Labour-controlled government to allow a free vote in parliament on the forthcoming Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
In the letter, written by Archbishop Mario Conti, President of the Joint Bio-ethics Committee the Bishops recognise, the “right and duty (of MPs) to vote in such issues according to conscience” and point out that many other countries have “drawn the line at human cloning.”
The Labour Party, under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has said that MPs will not be allowed a free vote.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Britain’s Labour Party to Force MPs to Support Embryology Bill
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07112308.html
UK Reproductive Tech Bill Allows Much More Than Human/Animal Hybrids
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07052210.html