Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali is calling on the government to set up a Commission on bio-ethics to replace the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which is soon to be abolished.
The bishop, a former member of the HFEA, is asking the Prime Minister to establish a national forum for discussing important ethical issues that affect legislation or policy.
His call follows the government's proposals to abolish the HFEA, along with other quangos.
Bishop Michael is a former Chairman of the Ethics and Law Committee of the HFEA. He says: ‘It is very important that ethical reflection should keep up with scientific and medical developments. ‘Those engaged in such work should be both supported and held accountable by the nation for their contribution to personal and social well-being.’
Bishop Michael sets out his case for a new body to protect the embryo in the latest edition of Standpoint magazine.
He writes: ‘I am sorry that the HFEA became increasingly libertarian in its decisions. But the HFEA was created so that the special status of the embryo could be recognised. The question arises as to how the special status of the embryo will continue to be recognised in law and regulated in practice.
‘One possibility may be to create a body along the lines of the American President’s Commission on Bioethics. Such a commission would continue to offer advice on the moral status of the embryo and on the strict limits there should be on what can be done with it.
‘There are also serious moral issues about the storage of eggs and of embryos and how they are to be used. Researchers and practitioners will have to be held to account.
‘We need a body which will not only monitor and regulate but will be able to provide moral direction in areas that are sometimes uncharted. Apart from scientists, philosophers and theologians, it is of crucial importance that wider society should be represented on such a body.’
Bishop Michael also proposes that the work of the Human Genetic Commission could also be brought within the remit of an extended commission.
News Release dated 25.11.10 from Bishop Nazir-Ali’s Office.