Gordon Brown has had to compromise on the Embryology Bill allowing MPs to follow their consciences in three areas: Preventing fertility clinics from refusing treatment for lesbians and single women, Allow children to be genetically engineered to match and save a sick sibling, and creating human-animal embryos for research. But MPs will have to back the final bill.
It sounds like this bill is laden with ethical issues and it already has religious leaders up in arms, protesting with words like “Frankenstein” and “Monster” being bandied about. If the bill ever does get passed it will give new pastures for the pro-life anti-abortion protesters to target.
Legislating for the non-stop progress of science and medicine is always so challenging.
Frank, I think the difficulty in this debate is rooted in moralising about these things. We need no legislation on it. There are many moralities, none is valid; this is an amoral world. Life only appears to have a moral dimension because we choose to overlay one on it, that is why there are so many moralities.
Thanks for your thoughts.