ZURICH, December 4, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Swiss Parliament has passed a measure allowing destructive research on human embryos, 'left-over' from fertility treatments. The law does not allow for creation of human embryos specifically for research as does the law in Britain, nor does it allow for parthenogenesis using human ova since it has been acknowledged to be a form of cloning which is banned by the Swiss constitution.
The legislation stipulates that prior to using embryonic stem cells, researchers must show that adult stem cells are not adequate.
The legislation allows for the human embryo to be allowed to grow up to seven days.
The bill also extended the lease on life of frozen embryos which were previously slated for destruction by the end of this year. However, the bill slates most of those same embryos for death by deadly experimentation, as long as the embryonic children's parents consent.