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Researcher Questions Motivation of Pro-Life MPs Who Oppose Stem Cell Bill

OTTAWA, October 20, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Canadian media is rife today with stories on the fact that destructive research on human embryos is already being done in Canada. And 'experts' in the field are thus questioning the motivation of pro-life MPs who are objecting to the legislation which, they say, seeks to regulate the research.

A proponent of the current bill, Francoise Baylis, an ethicist at Dalhousie University, has claimed pro-life MPs are being inconsistent in opposing the bill. The Canadian Press reports that Baylis said, while embryonic stem cell research is not currently going on, destructive research on embryos themselves is being carried out and has been for many years.

"When you have [Liberal MP] Paul Szabo saying he's going to kill this bill because it's going to allow for embryo research, I want to say, 'What do you think is going on right now?" she said. She notes that since 1987 destructive research on human embryos up to 14 days has been permitted under guidelines by the Medical Research Council.

"There's an inconsistency in the position they're advocating," Prof. Baylis said. "If you really believe the embryo is protectable human life, you can't allow these other technologies to be taking place, because they, too, involve the destruction of embryos."

Pro-life MPs however have, of late, been keenly aware of the destructive research on human embryos, and now the proposal to extend that destructive research to gain access to embryonic stem cells. "Why would we not try to stem the market for the destruction of human life? Of course our aim is to protect all human life, but we must attempt to stem the tide before we can even hope to beat back the waves of the culture of death and defend the right to life of all human beings from conception," said Mary Ellen Douglas of Campaign Life Coalition, a group which has worked closely with pro-life MPs.

Regarding the ongoing research on human embryos Baylis claimed, "nobody's hiding that fact." While nobody may be hiding the fact that destructive research on human embryos is taking place currently, it was definitely concealed for many years. "Why don't you think we had this debate in the 1980's if it was public information that this was going on? The fact is that the research was concealed and kept out of the mainstream media," said
Douglas.

See the CP coverage from the Globe and Mail:
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/...

See LifeSite's Stem Cell page at
http://www.lifesite.net/features/stemcellembryo/index.html

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