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18th June
2003 Human Assisted
Reproductive Technology Bill: Opening the Pandora�s Box of
Human Reproduction I would like to bring to your attention a bill that is before Parliament, the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, which opens up a Pandora�s box of ethical and other issues about how far we can go in tampering with the future of the human race. The Green Party has
grave reservations about the bill as it is presently drafted in Supplementary
Order Paper 2003 No 80, and encourages you to make submissions seeking to
strengthen it. The bill would
establish in New Zealand one of the most permissive regulatory regimes for
assisted human reproductive technologies in the world.
It would allow the
Minister of Health to approve controversial technologies that are banned in many
countries in the world such as the genetic engineering of human beings, embryo
splitting and embryo selection, and the creation of human/animal hybrids for
research purposes. All this would occur without parliamentary scrutiny, and
without any requirement for wide-ranging consultation and debate in the
community. We have particular
concerns about the inclusion of germ line engineering in the bill. No country in
the world has yet permitted germ line, or genetic engineering, of humans. In
fact, many countries like Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom explicitly
prohibit it. Germ line engineering
involves the genetic engineering of the sperm, egg or embryo so that any genetic
changes would be present in every cell of the baby and would be passed on to
subsequent generations. This could create huge medical problems in the future if
unexpected mutations or genetic disorders were to arise as a result of the
original genetic manipulation. Another threat is the
erosion of human rights and the inequality of human beings that would arise from
allowing parents to design their children�s genetic
inheritance. Embryo selection also
opens up nightmarish scenarios of parents being able to choose gender and
intelligence genes, and to modify the behaviour, ability and attributes of their
future baby. It has grave implications for our society, and for our attitudes to
the disabled and sick. Many people consider it
ethically unacceptable and medically unnecessary to use cloned and developing
human embryos for medical research when there are far more ethically acceptable
alternatives such as adult stem cells, which can potentially achieve the same
ends without the ethical and medical risks. We believe a line must
be drawn to protect future generations from growing up as laboratory
experiments. We also believe that research on embryos and germ cells is pushing
scientists into the area of eugenics and creating people as products.
The Green Party also
has serious concerns about the permissive framework the bill establishes. The
framework is essentially a voluntary or �free market� one, which relies on
guidelines, which are not legally binding. There is no requirement
for the monitoring and inspection of organisations that are carrying out such
research. Nor is there any real transparency in making these decisions.
Genetic engineering of
humans and the creation of animal/human hybrids would be considered by a handful
of people in a Ministerial Advisory Committee, whose deliberations would not be
open to the public. The Minister of Health will make a final decision on these
highly controversial practices, after receiving advice from the Advisory
Committee. In our view, these
sorts of issues should be decided only after wide-ranging public debate about
all of the ethical and other issues involved. We want to see a strong,
independent authority such as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
in the United Kingdom, set up to license and monitor the use of, and research
into, assisted human reproductive technologies, and to oversee a process
ensuring wide-ranging public debate on all of these
issues. If some types of human
assisted reproductive technologies are to be researched and carried out under
the guise of public health, then it is crucial that all these activities are
kept in the public domain. They should not be allowed to become a monopoly of
private companies, who could develop a stranglehold on knowledge and
developments that may save lives or improve the quality of life for people who
are suffering serious debilitating diseases. The Green party
encourages you to make a submission on this important bill. To do so, you need
to email or contact the Clerk of the Health Select Committee at Parliament
indicating you wish to make a submission by Monday 7 July
2003. Sue Kedgley
MP Green Party Health
Spokesperson BdMax distributors of ThermoMax -THE proven frost
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