The Review of Draft Legislation
Governing Human Reproductive
Technologies and Related Research
May 4, 2001
Health Minister Allan Rock has asked the House of
Commons Standing Committee on Health to undertake a review of draft legislation
that would regulate assisted human reproduction and related research, as well as
ban ethically unacceptable practices such as cloning, commercially surrogacy and
so-called "designer babies."
Rapid technological advances in the field of
assisted human reproduction and related research have offered new hope to
Canadians who want to raise families and those who have been seriously injured
or who are afflicted by diseases like Alzheimer’s.
But they have also raised profound concerns about
how to balance scientific progress with public safety and deeply held moral and
ethical beliefs about the dignity of human life.
The draft legislation is an attempt to strike an
appropriate balance -- one that ensures that Canadians using such techniques can
do so without compromising their health and safety; and, that promising research
related to assisted human reproduction takes place within a regulated
environment.
There is currently no comprehensive federal or
provincial legislation governing human reproductive technologies and related
research. The proposed approach will put Canada ahead of some countries and in
line with measures taken in other major industrialized countries.
It is because of the broad scope of the ethical,
scientific and personal issues covered by the draft legislation that the
Minister wanted to give Members of Parliament the earliest opportunity to
reflect on it and lead a dialogue with Canadians.
He has asked the Committee to report back by the
end of January 2002.
Highlights of the Draft
Legislation
The draft legislation would ban certain
activities, for example:
- The cloning of human beings;
- The sale and purchase of human embryos;
- Paying women to act as surrogate mothers;
- Sex selection for babies;
- Germ-line genetic alteration (changing the
genetic code such that the modification is passed on to descendants, which
could be used to create so-called "designer babies.")
- Creation of embryos solely for research
purposes; and,
- Transplanting reproductive material from
animals into humans
Violation of prohibitions would constitute a
criminal offence and be subject to fines and/or imprisonment.
Other activities would be allowed but would be
strictly regulated. Regulations would
cover, for example:
- The safety of reproductive materials (such as
sperm); and,
- The licensing of certain types of research.
(The draft legislation is consistent
with the proposals of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research on funding
stem cell research.)
A core principle of the draft legislation is
free and informed consent. Any procedure to assist human reproduction,
as well as some research practices, would require
the written consent of the donors.
Under the proposed legislation, information
registries would be established to, for example, collect information
about sperm and egg donors as well as data on the outcomes of various
regulated activities.
Children born of donated sperm and eggs could, at
some point, consult the registry to learn about the medical histories of their
donors.
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