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MPs vote to allow use of embryos in research
Amid bitter divisions, sweeping legislation passes Commons but faces Senate fight
By BRIAN LAGHI
With a report from Campbell Clark
Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - Page A1
OTTAWA -- Federal MPs have approved legislation paving the way for the limited use of human embryos in medical research after a morally charged debate that divided the governing Liberals.
The measure is part of a wide-ranging bill that also regulates human assisted reproduction and bans human cloning. The legislation is hailed by its supporters as a badly needed set of guidelines for the controversial science and attacked by its critics as morally questionable.
The legislation passed 149-109, a more convincing margin than some opponents had at first predicted. It made it through the House despite the objections of 16 Liberal backbenchers, the entire Canadian Alliance and Bloc Québécois caucuses and five Progressive Conservative MPs. The New Democrats voted in favour of the bill, as did 133 Liberals and four Tories; 41 MPs did not vote.
It must now make its way through the Senate, where it is likely to face more challenges before being approved.
"As far as I'm concerned, it will become law," said Health Minister Anne McLellan, who shepherded the legislation through the Commons.
Paul Szabo, a Liberal MP who spearheaded government backbenchers against the bill, pledged to fight it in the Senate. "I'm not going to be rolled over on this one," he said. "I'm going to fight it to the end."
The need for the legislation was flagged 10 years ago when a blue-chip committee produced a report calling for immediate regulation. A later bill died in the House six years ago.
The most controversial portion of the proposed legislation would allow a government-appointed agency to approve using embryos left over from fertility clinics for stem-cell research. Many scientists consider human embryos the best source of stem cells, a promising component of regenerative medicine that may one day provide treatments for several conditions, including Parkinson's disease.
A spokeswoman for the Parkinson Society of Canada said the proposed law will give up to 100,000 Canadians suffering from the condition reason to be optimistic about improved therapies.
"We have been strong supporters of this right from the beginning," Suzanne Tobin said. "A lot of people feel that this is an area of real hope."
Margaret Turner, 67, who has Parkinson's disease, said yesterday that she wouldn't support the bill if it would create human embryos for research.
"But if they are left over, rather than have them destroyed indiscriminately, I think it's a good idea to see them used," she said.
Ms. Turner, who was diagnosed 10 years ago after retiring as an office manager, said she exercises regularly and keeps herself healthy for the day when a cure or a better therapy might be found. She said she is hopeful for improved treatment -- "if not for me, then for other people."
Ms. Turner, who watched the debate closely, takes medication three times a day and could move to other therapies if her symptoms worsen.
The discussion on the reproductive technology bill over the past year or so has been reminiscent of the abortion debate, with some MPs calling embryos the most basic form of human life.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper said enough adult stem cells are available for research that human embryos are not needed.
"I think that there is lots of room for scientific progress with adult stem-cell research. I do not believe we need to be going down the route of embryonic stem-cell research," he said.
Mr. Szabo said the bill's language would allow human reproductive material to be implanted into non-human life forms, an assertion Ms. McLellan rejects.
"This bill is fatally flawed, there's no doubt about it," he said.
Aside from the use of embryos for stem-cell research, the bill touches on several areas.
It bans activities such as cloning and the creation of human-animal hybrids. It also prohibits the sale of sperm and ova and makes commercial surrogacy illegal. Surrogate mothers can, however, be reimbursed for expenses and loss of work-related income.
The bill would also create the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada to monitor clinics that deal with in vitro fertilizations and fertility. The agency would be involved in licensing, protecting the health of those undergoing fertility procedures, and in the collection of data.
Jocelyn Downie, Canada research chair in health and law policy at Dalhousie University, said the issue of assisted reproduction has been somewhat lost in all the debate involving embryonic stem-cell research.
She said yesterday that the bill is the last chance to bring in a regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction. Prof. Downie and a group of 64 other Canadian health-care, ethics and law experts issued an open letter on Monday in support of the bill.
Prof. Downie said that, currently, much of what takes place at in vitro and fertility clinics across the country is unregulated.
"The message has to get out that if we don't get this we're not going to get legislation because nobody is going to touch this again," she said.
The government appointed a royal commission on reproductive technologies in 1989.
New Democrat MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis welcomed the legislation, noting that the NDP got Ms. McLellan to pledge that she will try to ensure gender parity on the board of the new monitoring agency. The restiveness of the Liberal back bench forced the government earlier this fall to make a deal with the NDP for its votes.
She added, however, that she is concerned that the bill may not make it through the Senate before the Liberal government shuts down the House.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis and other MPs have speculated that Prime Minister Jean Chrétien may prorogue Parliament at the end of next week because of the coming leadership change in the Liberal Party. A prorogation would kill all legislation that hasn't passed both Houses of Parliament.
"I think the bad outcome on behalf of all these delays on the part of Paul Szabo is that it may not get through the Senate before Parliament prorogues," she said.
Ms. McLellan said she has spoken to Senator Michael Kirby, who heads a Senate committee that will review the bill. "I have every confidence that Senator Kirby will take this legislation and do a thorough job of reviewing it and move forward," she said.
She also predicted that even if the House prorogues, the bill may come back to the Senate in its current form in a new government led by Paul Martin, who will become Liberal leader in November and prime minister when Mr. Chrétien steps down early next year. Parliamentary rules allow for government to pass a motion to resurrect a bill killed by prorogation.
Not happy. This bill went to committee last year, split evenly between the members. None of the real amendments proposed by Szabo passed, so it looks like Canada has no effective ban on human cloning.
41 MPs did not vote.
C'mon!
New Democrat MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis welcomed the legislation, noting that the NDP got Ms. McLellan to pledge that she will try to ensure gender parity on the board of the new monitoring agency.
Guess we know where their real priorities lie.
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