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Gordon Brown gives Free Vote on Embryology Bill

This Easter weekend has seen a huge amount of media coverage on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

Gordon Brown has bowed to the pressure to allow a free vote. Speaking at the launch of Labour’s local election campaign, Gordon Brown has said Labour MPs “will have a free vote on three controversial parts of the Bill – IVF research, saviour siblings and Admix embryos” – the creation of animal – human hybrid embryos. He said “the measures were of huge importance, but added that he respected the ethical issues involved for some."

This means it is even more important that Christians make our views known on this issue. Please read legalwatch 8 to see how you can do this.

Read a blog by Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship on how embryonic stem cell research is a blind alley:

On February 1st 2008, Robert Cook was given a twelve month sentence of imprisonment suspended for two years, after he helped his terminally ill wife die by suffocating her after she had taken an overdose. Mr Cook pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. Mrs Cook, who had expressed her wish to die, suffered from depression and multiple sclerosis. Her husband of twenty nine years wanted to help her to end her life.

Vanessa Cook was an example of one of the most vulnerable people in our society. Yet the answer was not for her husband to take the law into his own hands by helping her to die. The law is there to protect and to respect an individual’s God-given life. Hard cases, like Mr Cook’s, and others before his, only make bad law.

• The Times, “Forget a new euthanasia law”
• Media Link: BBC One, Big Questions: Dr Rob George in euthanasia debate

Abortion

The Science and Technology Committee have just reported on abortion. They concluded as follows:

• There is no scientific basis to reduce the 24 week upper limit for abortion.
• The requirement for two doctors’ signatures before an abortion can be carried out should be removed.
• Nurses and midwives should be allowed to carry out early abortions.
• An exhaustive list of abnormalities on what constitutes “serious handicap” (which is used as a reason for aborting foetuses after 24 weeks) is not feasible, but that guidance on the meaning would be helpful.
• Foetal pain is not relevant to the question of abortion law.

However a minority report was also prepared by the two members of the Committee (Nadine Dorries and Bob Spink) rejecting the committee's findings and highlighting the way oral evidence was selected (of the 18 witnesses chosen to give evidence before the Committee, 13 were pro-abortion and only 5 pro-life).

Read the reports here

http://www.ccfon.org/docs/HCFinalABORTIONREPORT.pdf

And selected media coverage here:

MPs call for abortion law reforms
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7069011.stm

Bob Spink: Abortion inquiry findings laughable
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/31/nabort231.xml

Christian Medical Fellowship comment and Press Release on Report
http://www.cmf.org.uk/press_release/?id=94

Archived Articles

Draft Tissue and Embryos Bill

Incitement to Religious Hatred