London Daily Express, August 14th
Members of Parliament will be given a free vote on the cloning of human
embryos - even though a Government report recommends giving the go-ahead
for the programme.
Professor Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, and a team of
experts
who have been examining the controversial process will publish their
report, backing cloning, on Wednesday.
And when MP's return to the Commons in the autumn they will face the
moral
dilema of whether to support the recommendations to allow cloning of human
embryos for research purposes only.
The go-ahead for the programme is being hailed by ministers as a major
medical breakthrough in the battle against diseases such as Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's and diabetes. It is also said cloning will eventually help
cure lung disease, heart disease, strokes, cancer and multiple sclerosis.
Health Secretary Alan Milburn plans to introduce legislation in the next
Queen's Speech to make cloning for medical purposes legal. But pro-life
campaigners and religious groups will denounce the move as a step towards
"Frankenstein" technology and "cannilbalism".
The issue will present many MP's - including Tony Blair - with a very
personal dilema because the Roman Catholic Church has serious moral
objections to the process.
Opponenets of cloning will also complain bitterly at the timing of
publication of Professor Donaldson's report, in the middle of August when
neither the Commons nor the Lords are sitting. The "spare parts"
technique being given the go-ahead this week involves the harvesting of
so-called "stem-cells" from embryos less than 14 days old and using them
to replace diseased tissue or cells.
While Professor Donaldson's report says that human cloning should be
allowed
for research purposes, on the grounds that benefits outweigh the ethical
considerations, it concludes that the ban on manufacturing embryos for
human reproduction should remain.
The Government's approach has the broad backing of the Human
Fertilisation
and Embryology Authority. But pro-life MP's plan to launch a big campaign
to prevent the Government's proposals becoming law. Tory MP Ann
Winterton, chairman of the all-party parliamentary Pro-Life Group, said:
"This involves the destruction of human cells for the supposed benefit of
another human being.
"This flies in the face of the Hippocratic tradition not to destroy or
harm
one person to assist another., There are other ways of doing this. Adult
stem cells, for example."
*Scientist who cloned Dolly the Sheep are to stop experiments to
genetically
modify pigs for human organ transplants because of concerns that deadly
new diseases could be passed on to people. California-based Geron Bio-Med
has exclusive rights to the biotechnology developed at the Roslin
Institute near Edinburgh. (the home of the Sinclair's Roslyn Chapel: See
The Biggest Secret).
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