Theos-Talk Archives (October 2008 Message tt00778)

I wonder if the Solar Lords will dig this, they didn't in Atlantis...the sun is btw very quiet at the moment and its heliosphere has shrunk more than 25% the last 25 years...this could mean part destruction of this earth by cosmic fire.

--- On Thu, 10/23/08, nhcareyta <nhcareyta@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
From: nhcareyta <nhcareyta@yahoo.com.au>
Subject: Theos-World British MPs back animal-human embryo research
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008, 4:49 AM










    
            Britain's lower house of parliament has approved legislation allowing 

scientists to create animal-human embryos for medical research, in 

the biggest shake-up of embryology laws in two decades.



Despite opposition from religious and pro-life groups, MPs in the 

House of Commons today backed the Human Embryology and Fertilisation 

Bill by 355 votes to 129. 



It will now go to a vote in the House of Lords, and could be law by 

November.



The wide-ranging bill, which has been debated for months, would also 

allow "saviour siblings" - children created as a close genetic match 

for a sick brother or sister so their genetic material can help treat 

them.



In addition, it gives lesbians and single women easier access to in-

vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment by removing requirements for 

clinics to consider a child's need for a father.



Health Minister Dawn Primarolo told MPs the bill was about helping 

the one in seven couples who needed fertility assistance, and about 

research to deal with diseases such as Alzheimer's, which affects 

350,000 Britons.



Hybrid embryos, created by inserting the nuclei of a human cell into 

an animal egg, can ensure a more plentiful supply of stem cells for 

use in research into treating conditions like Alzheimer's and 

Parkinson's.



"It is about research to deal with the dreadful diseases and the 

debilitating attacks on their health from which many in our society 

suffer," the minister told MPs.



"The bill is about combining science with an ethical framework that 

works on behalf of humankind."



Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a strong defender of the measures, 

saying Britain owes it to future generations. His son Fraser has 

cystic fibrosis, a disease that could one day benefit from embryo 

research.



However, 16 MPs from his ruling Labour party, including former 

minister Ruth Kelly, a staunch Catholic who quit the government this 

month, voted against the bill and religious groups warned it was the 

next step on a "slippery slope".



Nadine Dorries, a member of the opposition Conservative Party, told 

her fellow MPs that loopholes in the legislation raised the 

possibility of scientists attempting cross-breeding between humans 

and animals.



"Of all the experimental possibilities debated in the course of this 

bill, surely none is quite so utterly repulsive as the possibility of 

seeking to inseminate animals with human sperm," she said.



The debate was overshadowed by complaints from all sides that the 

government had blocked a discussion on reforming the abortion laws. 



Ministers suggested they did not think the current bill was the right 

time to do this.



-AFP




      

    
    
	
	 
	
	








	


	
	


      

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