Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill

 

NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference and The Nathaniel Centre

Background

The New Zealand parliament is currently considering legislation to regulate the use of Human Assisted Reproductive Technology. Attempts to establish legislation in this area go back to 1996 when the Labour member Dianne Yates first introduced the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill. This was followed by the Assisted Reproduction Bill, tabled by Doug Graham in late 1998. Both Bills have never progressed beyond the Select Committee stage. In April 2003 Lianne Dalziel introduced draft legislation in the form of a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP). The SOP effectively makes amendments to the 1996 HART Bill.

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Editorial: Abortion - Technology and Truth

Michael McCabe
Issue 14, November 2004

The television documentary, "My Foetus" was shown to New Zealand audiences in September this year. "My Foetus" presented viewers with amazing images of a child before birth, which revealed just how like a newborn baby a foetus is, not just in appearance, but in behaviour.

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Update on The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (HART) Bill

Nathaniel Centre Staff
Issue 14, November 2004

On 6 August 2004 the Health Select Committee reported to Parliament on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill 2003. The Bill establishes a legislative framework for controlling human assisted reproductive technology, and fills an eight year gap in which changes in technology and science outstripped attempts to introduce a regulatory framework.

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Guidelines for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis in New Zealand

Nathaniel Centre Staff
Issue 15, April 2005

In November 2004 The Nathaniel Centre responded to an invitation from the National Ethics Committee on Assisted Human Reproduction (NECAHR) to comment on proposed guidelines relating to the practice of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) in New Zealand. PGD is defined in the NECAHR consultation document as "a procedure devised to test early human embryos for serious inherited genetic conditions... PGD involves several steps: the creation of an embryo via IVF; the removal of one or two cells from the embryo; the genetic testing of these cells for specific genetic conditions; and a subsequent transfer of unaffected embryos to a woman's uterus." [i]

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The Moral Case for Embryo Adoption

John Kleinsman
Issue 16, August 2005

In May of this year twenty-one American "Snowflakes" families appeared with President Bush accompanied by their adopted embryos. The purpose was to protest against a bill supporting the use of embryos for stem cell research.

Many of the babies wore T-shirts with the words "former embryo" or "this embryo was not discarded". The appearance of these children was a potent symbol of the fact that the embryo is just that child at an earlier stage of development. (Belluck, Pam. 2005)

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Human Embryos and Research - Have Your Say

Nathaniel Centre Staff
Issue 19, August 2006

On 24 July, 2006 Toi te Taiao The Bioethics Council released a booklet designed to encourage discussion about the use of human embryos for research. The publication of this document reflects the responsibility Toi te Taiao has to consider the cultural, ethical and spiritual issues raised by the use of biotechnology in New Zealand and to get people thinking and talking and to encourage them to get involved.

The booklet anticipates the release of draft guidelines on the use of embryos for research by the Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ACART) later in the year. All New Zealander's have the opportunity to submit their comments on these draft guidelines.

The desire to carry out research on embryos reflects a hope that stem cells unspecialized cells which have the ability to give rise to particular tissue-specific cells may one day provide the key to a wide range of cures and therapies. Embryos are one way of sourcing stem cells commonly referred to as embryonic stem cells (ESC's). The dilemma is that such stem cells can only be gathered by destroying the embryo.

Other types of stem cells - known as adult stem cells - can be obtained from a variety of other sources such as cord blood and bone marrow. The sourcing of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of embryos. For this reason, research on adult stem cells poses far fewer ethical dilemmas. At the same time, however, adult cells are more limited than ESC's in terms of the range of tissue-specific cells that they are potentially able to develop into.

It is because adult stem cells are more restricted in their ability to differentiate than ESC's that many researchers regard ESC's as holding greater promise. This has led to considerable pressure being put on governments around the world, including New Zealand, to make human embryos available for such research.

There are, broadly speaking, two key sources of embryonic stem cells; embryos specifically created for implantation by fertility clinics and which are now not required for implantation (sometimes called spare embryos) and embryos created expressly for destructive research. Embryos created for destructive research may be produced in one of two ways; through donated sperm and eggs the same process used to create embryos for infertile couples - or by a process of cloning (SCNT) in which the nucleus of an egg is replaced with the nucleus of a body cell (skin cell, hair cell, etc) containing the full complement of chromosomes of a particular person.

While a distinction is made between cloning for research and reproductive cloning (a practice that is illegal in New Zealand and universally banned) the process is essentially the same. The key difference is that in research cloning the embryo is allowed to grow for only seven days after which time it is destroyed so that its stem cells can be removed.

The booklet notes that individual attitudes to embryo research reflect a person's understanding of the moral status of the embryo. Some regard the embryo as merely a collection of cells, deserving of no special respect. Others regard it as meriting some protection but believe that for very good reasons such as the search for therapies embryos may sometimes be used for research. Catholic teaching holds that without exception the living embryo is, from the moment of fertilisation, a human being with an absolute right to life. On that basis all embryos are entitled to the same respect as persons.

Stem cell research holds real promise for the prevention and treatment of serious diseases. However, we have a moral obligation to pursue good outcomes by using only ethical means. It is an old axiom that the end does not justify the means. Sufficient account needs to be taken of the moral harm associated with the destruction of human embryos, including its wider repercussions for the way we look at all human life. Appealing exclusively to the future benefits that may come about as a result of destructive research on human embryos obscures broader ethical issues.

In the case of stem cell research, the use of adult stem cells provide an ethically acceptable alternative and we have a moral obligation to pursue this alternative. There is also other promising research which is seeking ways of obtaining cells with the same properties of embryonic stem cells without the need to create or harm human embryos.

For a fuller discussion of the Catholic understanding of the moral and ethical issues associated with stem cell research refer to The Nathaniel Report:

Issue number five: The Moral Status of the Embryo

Issue number twelve: Stem Cell Research in New Zealand

Submissions may be sent directly to ACART through their website.

 

The Use of Gametes and Embryos in Human Reproductive Research: Determining Policy for New Zealand

Submission from The New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference and The Nathaniel Centre
Issue 21, April 2007

Introduction

Life and physical health are precious gifts that have been entrusted to us. We have a responsibility to take care of them while taking into account the needs of others and the common good. Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society work assiduously to support all persons to live fulfilled lives. To this end the Catholic Church recognises the importance of, and is committed to, ongoing research into human health and well-being.

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Reflecting on Prenatal Detecting

John Kleinsman
Issue 22, August 2007

"There is an infinite difference between parents who want a child only if it comes into the world satisfying specific criteria for quality or gender, and parents welcoming the child they beget in a spirit of humility and with unconditional love, which they understand as the primary characteristic of the parent-child bond." (Margaret Somerville, "Biotechnology and the Human Spirit", p. 7)

Introduction

The advent of prenatal testing has changed women's experience of pregnancy and, along with other developments in reproductive technologies, has led us – individually and societally – into new emotional and ethical territory.

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