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SPUC welcomes Tory health spokesman's opposition to cloning
Westminster, 17 November 2000--The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has welcomed opposition from a Conservative front bench health spokesman to government proposals to allow human cloning.During today's adjournment debate, Mr Philip Hammond, Conservative
MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, voiced concerns that science was
pushing ahead of the moral consensus. People at large had woken up to
the potential dangers of cloning, he told the House of Commons.
Concerns about BSE and genetically modified foods had caused people to
re-evaluate the role of science in society.
John Smeaton, national director of SPUC, said: "Although this
is not a party-issue, and although a free vote has been promised on the
government's intended measures, it is encouraging to see opposition
front-bench support for the case against human cloning."
Mr Hammond warned that MPs might be being asked to sanction
cloning on the grounds that the end justified the means. However, the
end was by no means certain and he warned that the genie could be let
out of the bottle.
Mr Hammond also pointed out that human embryos were not the
only source of stem cells. Umbilical cords and adult tissue were a rich
source too. He quoted the British Medical Journal as saying in January
last year that the use of embryonic cells would soon be eclipsed by the
use of adult cells. All of the letters he had received from
constituents on this subject had opposed cloning.
Mr Smeaton commented: "It is encouraging that we appear to have
a more ethically-aware Conservative front bench team than when the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act was debated under Margaret
Thatcher, when human experimentation was legalised with her backing and
that of Kenneth Clarke.
"We believe that interest in this subject will increase
throughout the nation, and that concerned individuals should urge their
MPs to take part in the growing national debate on human cloning."
Mr Smeaton also welcomed Mrs Ann Winterton's speech in the
debate, during which she pointed out that public opinion polls showed a
majority against human cloning. She quoted Lord Winston, the
pro-cloning fertility expert, as saying that so-called therapeutic
cloning would inevitably lead to cloning as a means of reproduction.
Ms Yvette Cooper, the public health minister, used the debate
to restate her support for so-called therapeutic cloning and to repeat
that the government would bring forward measures to allow it.
When asked by Mr Hammond whether she would bow to public
opinion if it turned out to be opposed to so-called therapeutic
cloning, Ms Cooper spoke of how MPs were elected by their constituents
to make decisions on their behalf.
Dr Liam Fox MP, the shadow health secretary, had previously rejected the chief medical officer's report which advocated cloning, calling the proposal "morally and ethically unacceptable".
