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POSTED AT 2:49 AM EDT Friday, May 10 Bill rejects cloning, opens door to research By ERIN ANDERSSEN From Friday's Globe and Mail Ottawa — Juggling the views of genetic scientists hunting cures and politicians worried about the moral consequences, Health Minister Anne McLellan brought in new legislation Thursday that bans human cloning, but allows research on embryos if necessary. The legislation establishes a Canadian compromise between restrictions on embryonic research in the United States and an expansive law in Britain that allows researchers to create embyros solely for study. This practice will be banned in Canada under the new law, and researchers will have to apply to a new regulatory agency to have access to the extra embyros created at fertility clinics but no longer needed. The law would also ban sperm or egg donors and surrogate mothers from being paid for their services except for "reasonable expenses" — such as parking and maternity clothes — that they can prove with a receipt. Although it guarantees that offspring of such donors receive medical information about their biological roots, the law will not require donors to reveal their identities — a guarantee sought by a parliamentary health committee. Instead, the new Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada will keep the information on file, and donors will be given the option, upon a child's request, to make their identities known. "The main purpose of this legislation is to protect the infertile community," Ms. McLellan told reporters after tabling the legislation. "These are very basic and important decisions that go the foundations of our society. But [Canadians] now know where the government stands." Ms. McLellan said she hopes the legislation passes through the House of Commons before the summer break. It is expected to be controversial, particularly because of the moral issues raised by embryonic research. Among the Liberals, there have already been calls for the Prime Minister to make it a free vote. The Alliance Party had called for a three-year moratorium on embryonic research. "We're opening the box to where you're actually taking human life and using it for research, and by doing that you're destroying it," said opposition health critic Rob Merrifield, who plans to vote against the bill. "We need to be very cautious." The government has been grappling with this issue for more than a decade; Canada is one of the last Western countries to move forward with legislation on reproductive technologies. Politicians on both sides of the House had been watching carefully to see how Ms. McLellan would handle a report from the health committee. The committee had recommended that embryos be used in research only as a last resort. The law states that the research can proceed if the agency — composed of up to 13 members from a broad range of disciplines, operating independently of the Health Department — is "satisfied that the use is necessary." Donors have to give their consent. Health officials said that scientists would have to demonstrate a trail of research to show they tried other avenues. Applications to the new $10-million agency and its decisions will be made public. "I will not define necessary," Ms. McLellan said. "That will be defined by the agency. ... These are surplus embryos. You know what happens to them? They go in the garbage." The law is silent, however, on the use of fetal tissue from abortions or miscarriages; studies could be conducted in this area, Health Department officials said, if a mother gives approval and if it passes regulations already set by the research community. Stem cells extracted from embryos can be used to replicate almost any tissue in the body, and scientists believe they could hold the key to curing diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and cancer. Interactive • Web Sites: The Bill http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/reproduction/legislation/index.html Related Stories • House braces for stem-cell debate http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.ArticleNews/relatedstories/gam/20020509/ULEGIM • Ban cloning, not its life-saving cousin http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.ArticleNews/relatedstories/gam/20020509/COSOMA • MPs have the wrong focus http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.ArticleNews/relatedstories/gam/20020502/COSTEM • The stem-cell rules http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.ArticleNews/relatedstories/gam/20020501/ESTEM SOURCE: The Globe and Mail http://www.globeandmail.ca/ * * * "Murray Charters" <[log in to unmask]> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn