Lord Brennan, 65, a QC and prominent Catholic, collapsed only moments after speaking in the debate over a Bill which will make it easier for gay and lesbian couples to become parents of “test tube” babies. He is reported to be recovering in hospital today.
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For the government, Lord Darzi said it was important to update the law to ensure it was "reflective of modern society".
He said the Bill would "update the regulation of assisted reproduction to ensure it is both effective and also reflective of modern society".
"The Bill includes clear recognition of same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos.
"This would mean, for example, that the woman who gave birth and her civil partner would both be recognised as parents of the child conceived by assisted reproduction."
'Removal by design'
Under existing law, a partner has to apply to "adopt" the child.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, was among critics - he argued that the government was putting "the right to be a parent over the welfare of a child".
He said there was "all the difference in the world" between a single-parent family and a fatherless child "by design"
The Archbishop of York was among those criticising the proposal
"And this is precisely what the government proposes in this Bill - the removal by design of the father of the child."
Among others opposing the plan were the Conservative former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay, who steered the previous 1990 Act through the Lords, and crossbencher Baroness Deech, who used to be chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Lord Mackay said the current wording was "very innocuous" and was guidance to medical practitioners - not a strict requirement.
Lady Deech added that under the existing law many single women and gay couples had received IVF treatment, and said: "I think it would be extraordinary if this House were to ignore the contribution made by half of the human race towards the upbringing of the next generation."
Another crossbencher, Lord Alton, added: "The government decision to remove the reference for a need for a father is a huge error."
"An estimated 800,000 children in Britain already have no contact with their father and to deliberately add to their number seems to me to be downright irresponsible."
But Baroness Tonge, for the Lib Dems, said children could be brought up "very well indeed without either parent in some circumstances," said: "My party has never discriminated against gay people - which this debate is really about - and we will therefore support the removal of those words."
He said the Bill would "update the regulation of assisted reproduction to ensure it is both effective and also reflective of modern society".
"The Bill includes clear recognition of same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos.
"This would mean, for example, that the woman who gave birth and her civil partner would both be recognised as parents of the child conceived by assisted reproduction."
'Removal by design'
Under existing law, a partner has to apply to "adopt" the child.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, was among critics - he argued that the government was putting "the right to be a parent over the welfare of a child".
He said there was "all the difference in the world" between a single-parent family and a fatherless child "by design"
The Archbishop of York was among those criticising the proposal
"And this is precisely what the government proposes in this Bill - the removal by design of the father of the child."
Among others opposing the plan were the Conservative former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay, who steered the previous 1990 Act through the Lords, and crossbencher Baroness Deech, who used to be chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Lord Mackay said the current wording was "very innocuous" and was guidance to medical practitioners - not a strict requirement.
Lady Deech added that under the existing law many single women and gay couples had received IVF treatment, and said: "I think it would be extraordinary if this House were to ignore the contribution made by half of the human race towards the upbringing of the next generation."
Another crossbencher, Lord Alton, added: "The government decision to remove the reference for a need for a father is a huge error."
"An estimated 800,000 children in Britain already have no contact with their father and to deliberately add to their number seems to me to be downright irresponsible."
But Baroness Tonge, for the Lib Dems, said children could be brought up "very well indeed without either parent in some circumstances," said: "My party has never discriminated against gay people - which this debate is really about - and we will therefore support the removal of those words."
The second reading debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill was later adjourned to Wednesday.
5 comments:
Has anybody thought out the implications of a child going to school who has 2 lesbians for parents.It was bad enough to have had separated or divorced parents.It can only lead to unbearable bullying and lead to serious mental problems and ultimately suicide.
We live in a sick society..
More evidence of the ill will that our society holds against fathers, who are at best seen as slow and witless or at worst feckless and abusive. The solution = remove them from the family.
Strange, how this rejection of fathers has appeared at the same time as the rejection of the Father.
Fatherless until the lawsuits happen and/or curious children appear on the doorstep. The myth of anonymous sperm donation was long ago blasted to bits in lawsuits where the children sued and WON the right to know their father.
There is NO such thing as a fatherless human being.
Ma Beck - I bet they're already working on 'motherless' human beings and no doubt the UK's HFEA leads the world in this essential research whose real aim of course is to rid the world of Alzheimers and Parkinsons and other terrible diseasezzzzzz...zzz..zzz..zzzzzzzz
We'll soon see homosexual men (one pregnant) holding hands and waiting for baby! After all it's their right, as they all keep screaming. So good that the wonders of modern (junk) science can keep pace with homosexual lifestyle demands.
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