15 Morningside Road, Edinburgh EH10 4DP, Tel: 0131 447 6394
24 March 2005
The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics (SCHB) is very concerned with some of the conclusions to be published on Thursday 24 March 2005 by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee entitled Human Reproductive Technologies and the Law.
Dr. Calum MacKellar, the Director of Research of the SCHB stated, in this respect, that "one really wonders whether some of the MPs on the committee understand what is meant by ethics" adding that "ethics is about discerning between what is morally right and wrong, not allowing anything that is scientifically possible to take place."
Dr. MacKellar also stated that "How can anyone consider the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos as being ethical? These kinds of experiments are causing a lot of moral distress to millions of persons in the UK and should not be allowed." He also indicated that "the UK is already being seen by our European neighbours as having become an ethical cowboy state in which anything goes."
The SCHB agrees, however, that the regulatory powers of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority should be abolished since they are undemocratic and do not generally represent the views of society. In this respect the SCHB would prefer to see more involvement from the Westminster parliament in the important decisions relating to new possibilities in human reproduction.
The SCHB also notes that it would be inappropriate for the UK to contravene the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine [1] which prohibits most procedures of sex selection. Indeed Article 14 states that:
The use of techniques of medically assisted procreation shall not be allowed for the purpose of choosing a future child's sex, except where serious hereditary sex-related disease is to be avoided.
Contact:
Dr. Neville Cobbe (expert member of the SCHB), Mob: 0785 427 4421, Lab.Tel: 0131 650 7109