OTTAWA, December 10, 2001 (LSN.ca) - The Liberal-dominated Commons health committee has rubber-stamped Health Minister Allan Rock’s proposed legislation regarding new reproductive technologies. While various MPs on the committee objected to experimentation with human embryos, especially given the superiority of ethical stem cell research with adult cells, the majority approved the controversial research, according to a report in the National Post.
Ottawa sources say the committee report, which is to be delivered Wednesday, allows experimentation with human embryos up to 14 days old, which were created for in vitro fertilization but not used. The Post reports that the Canadian Alliance will be issuing a dissenting report, likely objecting to research on human embryos.
Campaign Life Coalition Public Affairs Director Karen Murawsky told LifeSite she was not surprised by the news. She condemned the “utilitarianism” at work in the decision making. “They are looking at human beings (embryos) as raw materials to be used up. There is no ethical thinking involved.”
(National Post December 8, 2001, “Some embryo study should be allowed, MPs say”)