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HFEA and CAHR — Worries on Embryo Selection : 13th Sep 05
According to Herman Kelly, editor of the Irish Catholic, the decision of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in the UK to allow a couple from Northern Ireland to create, select and reject human embryos in order to get a genetic match for their child, “is to be abhorred”.
He pointed out that this decision means that in the space of a few decades “we have moved from protecting human life in all its stages to allowing the destruction of human embryos to the point now where they can be created and are deemed worthy or not worthy of life depending on the benefit they can give to another human being”.
He pointed out the fact that the Irish Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (CAHR) invited advocates of this practice to their public consultation does not auger well. The Government must ensure the forthcoming CAHR report “will just be the beginning of a consultation process rather than its conclusion”. Irish Catholic. July 29.
Selection of Embryos for Tissues Rapped
Irish pro-life groups have warned of the inevitable destruction of human lives after the latest moves in the UK to allow the selection and rejection of human embryos according to their genetic properties. Following the decision by the UK-based Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to allow for the creation of embryonic children to provide therapeutic tissue for older siblings, a pro-life spokesman described the decision as “deeply disturbing”.
He called on the Irish-based Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (CAHR), due to publish its own report soon, “to prevent such practices in the Republic”. Moreover, he said, “the HFEA decision authorises the further wanton destruction of embryonic human life as well as violating the dignity of any child subsequently brought into being, for the sole purpose of treating a condition in an older sibling”. Irish Family. July 29.
Rights and Wrongs of Embryo Research
Irish mother, writer, columnist and counsellor, Angela MacNamara, has been synonymous with relationship education for over 40 years.
Writing in the Irish Times she said, “With regard to the current discussions on embryo research, I am reminded of Martin Luther King's words during the civil rights campaign of the 1960s. ‘Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question ‘Is it politic’? Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?' But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’” Irish Times. August 5. http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/letters/2004/0805/#1091051854422
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