OTTAWA, January 29, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) organization has released a statement on Bill C-13—An Act Respecting Assisted Human Reproduction. In the statement, positive elements of the bill are praised but the organization also calls for two important changes to the bill.
The CCCB emphasizes that C-13 will permit destructive research on embryos who remain after fertility treatments. It urges "members of Parliament to strengthen Bill C-13 by amending it to prohibit research on embryos."
On the issue of cloning, the bishops organization states "Some questions have been raised as to whether the Bill does what is intended. We urge members of Parliament to ensure that the Bill captures all forms and possibilities of cloning."
Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the national pro-life political organization, has provided significant evidence that the bill will not prevent any cloning because of poor definitions and other weaknesses in the bill. Since the government has so far resisted accepting any meaningful amendments to what is considered a deeply flawed bill, CLC is strongly recommending it be defeated.
See the Campaign Life Coalition presentation on C-13
http://www.lifesite.net/features/stemcellembryo/CLCpresentation.htm
and the most recent CLC National News stories on the bill
http://www.lifesite.net/clc/national_news/2003/news_0103.html#1
http://www.lifesite.net/clc/national_news/2003/news_0203.html#1