Britain Gives Green Light for Embryo Cloning
By Mike Peacock
LONDON, January 22, 2001 (Reuters) - Britain's House of Lords backed
new government rules Monday to allow limited cloning of human embryos,
turning a deaf ear to religious leaders from across the spectrum who had
urged them to oppose the measures.
Peers in parliament's upper chamber voted by 212 to 92 to allow research
using stem cells to develop treatments for killer diseases such as
leukemia, PARKINSON'S and cancer.
Debate raged for seven hours but as MPs in the elected House of Commons
passed the order by a majority of two to one late last year, it will now
become law.
Prime Minister Tony Blair argues the move would allow Britain to stay at
the forefront of the booming biotechnology industry. But right-to-life
groups and religious leaders see it as the first step down a
slippery slope to full human cloning.
Independent peer Lord Alton, a ``pro-life'' campaigner, released a
letter from Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Archbishop of
Canterbury George Carey and Britain's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, urging
parliament to set aside the laws.
Alton said the government was railroading the order through parliament
without proper scrutiny and proposed a motion that would freeze the
legislation until a special committee had heard exhaustive evidence from
experts.
"It is precisely because we need to consider these things in detail that
we shouldn't be stampeded into making decisions,'' he said.
"There are many strong ethical and scientific arguments which may be
deployed against cloning techniques but we are also strongly at variance
with international opinion,'' he said.
The European Parliament has urged Britain to stop its plans.
Alton's amendment fell as the government bought off opponents by
promising to allow a committee of experts to scrutinize the ethics and
science of the issue as long as the House of Lords voted the order
through on the night.
Health minister Lord Hunt said Britain would legislate to ensure full
human cloning never happened even though safeguards were already in
place.
Stem cells are master cells that can develop into different cell types
such as blood, brain and bones. They offer the potential to treat
diseases ranging from Parkinson's, diabetes and cancers to leukemia,
hepatitis and stroke.
"The science is clear that this research has the potential to provide
the answers for these diseases,'' Hunt said.
"The human embryo has a special status and we owe a measure of respect
to the embryo. We also owe a measure of respect to the millions of
people living with these devastating illnesses and the millions who are
yet to show signs of them.''
The order changes the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act of 1990,
extending the scope for research on stem cells from human embryos but
leaving human cloning illegal.
The leader of Britain's Catholics, Archbishop of Westminster Cormac
Murphy-O'Connor, said stem cells could just as easily be obtained from
adults as embryos.
But scientists say stem cells from early embryos, less than one week
old, offer the greatest potential for human benefit.
Blair has courted controversy by strongly backing the technology.
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Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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