Murphy welcomes embryos vote move

Mar 28 2008 by David Williamson, Western Mail

WELSH Secretary Paul Murphy yesterday welcomed the free vote on controversial embryology laws as “the right thing to do”.

He is one of three Catholic Cabinet Ministers opposed to key elements of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, along with Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly and Defence Secretary Des Browne.

He told the Western Mail, “The outcome is the right outcome. People have been given the chance to vote on the three most important and controversial areas of the Bill, and I think that’s right.”

MPs will vote according to their consciences on legislation which would:

Permit the creation of hybrid animal/human embryos to aid stem cell research;

Prevent fertility clinics from refusing treatment to single women and lesbians;

Allow the creation of children with the matching tissue needed to save a sick brother or sister;

Dan Boucher, spokesman for Christian campaigning group Care, had lobbied against the most controversial aspects of the Bill and described the free votes as “good news for democracy”.

However, he regretted that members of the House of Lords had not been granted such freedom during the earlier votes on the Bill. He said, “There’s a sense in which a compromise is rather late in the day. A number of peers objected to what happened in the Upper House.”

Mr Boucher argued there should be greater research into treatments based on adult stem cells. He said, “One of the big questions is, ‘Is it acceptable that government has invested the vast majority of taxpayers’ money in embryonic cell therapy rather than adult stem cells?’ That’s the one field that’s delivering for patients.”

Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley has warned it must not be “backdoor” to legalising abortion in Northern Ireland.

Mr Boucher said, “If the Bill goes through with amendment that seeks to liberalise abortion I think it would be inconceivable for a Labour MP with ethical objections to abortion to vote for the Bill at third reading.”

Glyn Davies, a former Tory AM and Westminster candidate for Montgomeryshire, welcomed the granting of the free vote and called for greater freedom for MPs to vote according to conscience. He said, “I think the principle of free votes on conscience issues is good for parties and good for individual politicians because they have to decide what they really believe and not just hide behind the Whip.

“If you’ve got to answer to your constituents for your decisions you have to think it through.”

Mr Davies added, “In the end I probably would have voted in favour but I can see it’s a massively difficult position for anyone to take. It’s about the future of the human race. The issues just don’t get any bigger.”

The Rev Robin Morrison, the Church in Wales’ church and society officer, was undecided about the ethics of the embryonic research and said MPs should ensure they understood the science before voting.

He said, “The irony would be if that doctrinal position had the unintended consequence of stopping some good science happening which would save lives.”