Dr Brian Iddon MP in Call for Bioethics Committee in Parliament

Bolton South East MP, Dr Brian Iddon, is calling for a Parliamentary Bioethics Committee to be set up.

Dr Iddon made the call in a debate on an amendment that he tabled during passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill through its Standing Committee last week.  Dr Iddon was a Member of the Standing Committee that has scrutinised the Bill before it returns to the House of Commons shortly for its controversial Final Stages.

Dr Iddon said,

“I would like to see a Parliamentary Bioethics Committee established not only to consider human bioethics but also animal bioethics. Some issues, such as xenotransplantation and admixed human embryos, cross the boundaries between human and animal bioethics.  After all we have a Human Rights Committee in Parliament, which is an all-party committee of both Houses of Parliament.  I have thought for a long time that we should have a parallel committee to discuss ethical issues.”

Since the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 was enacted, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has been responsible for taking some important ethical decisions.  Dr Iddon believes that these should not be left to what is essentially a body of unelected individuals, however experienced they are in the field.  Members of the HFE Authority have expressed similar views.

The Minister, the Right Honourable Dawn Primarolo MP, Minister of State at the Department of Health, responded positively to Dr Iddon’s call. 

“I will ensure that I draw the comments of all Members of the Committee on the wider issue to the attention of the appropriate authorities in the House.  Such a Committee, perhaps a Joint Committee [of both Houses], could strengthen our understanding, and the way in which we discharge our roles as Members of Parliament, when we address these important social and ethical issues”, she said.