OTTAWA, May 24, 2001 (LSN.ca) – On May 23 the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) urged the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee (CBAC) to specifically prohibit the patenting of human life at any stage of development. The CBAC consultation asked for input on patenting higher life forms. Within its consultation document (on page 8 in footnote 9) it clarified that if one is to exclude human beings from patents then one must define human beings and questions whether human embryos should be included in the definition.
“The question of whether or not higher life forms should be patentable creates unease for Canadians because it raises social, philosophical, moral and religious questions about the nature of life and the ownership of life,” says Bruce Clemenger, Director of EFC’s Centre for Faith and Public Life. The EFC applied the principles of respect for human dignity and the stewardship of creation to the issues raised in the consultation. The EFC urged the CBAC to ensure that patent legislation will not allow the patenting of human life or of a whole animal.
The submission the EFC made exploring this issue can be viewed online on the EFC website: https://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/resources/resource_viewer.asp?Resource_ID=112
The CBAC consultation document is available on line at: https://www.cbac-cccb.ca/documents/Consultation_IP_English.pdf