|
|
Dear Member of Parliament: Re: Bill C-13
April 3, 2003
Dear Member of Parliament:
Re: Bill C-13
As the final vote on the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (Bill C-13)
approaches, we wish to pose a question. When did your life begin? Please
consider this question carefully. Admittedly, it is a very personal question.
Yet it also bears directly, we submit, on the legislation at hand.
If you answer the question as we do, you agree that, for each of us, life begins
at conception. That answer is not surprising. For probably most reasonable
people, irrespective of their views on abortion, would not deny that each of us
once was a baby in our mother's womb, and that our life journey began as a
little embryo when an egg from our mother was fertilized by a sperm from our
father. Or as the Canadian Medical Association puts it, "the baby develops from
a single cell at conception (Complete Book of Mother and Baby Care, 1999,
p. 14).
If you agree with us that life begins at conception, it seems to us you should
also logically agree with the following proposition: Every time someone refers
to a "human embryo", they are referring, not to a thing, but to a somebody.
The basic problem with Bill C-13, as we see it, is precisely that it does not
treat the human embryo as a somebody, but rather as raw material for medical
research. For that single but grave humanitarian reason, we urge you to oppose
it.
As you know, presently Canada has a voluntary moratorium on stem cell research
using human embryos. It is apparent that one of the main goals of the
legislation is to end the moratorium and encourage this type of research -
albeit subject to regulation - for the medical promise that some believe it
holds.. The defeat of the bill would signal that the killing of embryos for
research is still not acceptable in this country and that the voluntary
moratorium should continue.
No one objects to stem cell research per se. In the case of adult and umbilical
stem cells, there is no ethical problem. Since that research not only has
enormous promise but already is yielding important and ever increasing medical
applications, it merits government support. The problem is only with research
that entails killing some (embryonic) human beings in order to use their stem
cells. The end does not justify the means.
When it comes to killing innocent human beings for the sake of medical research,
half_way limiting measures, i.e., beginning a regulated practice through this
legislation, will not do. If human beings are somebodies, treating them under
any circumstances as mere biological material flagrantly contravenes human
dignity. We hope you agree.
On humanitarian grounds, therefore, we urge you to vote against Bill C-13.
Human embryos are little somebodies, to be sure. But treating every human being
as a somebody is also surely a core principle for any public policy worthy of
consideration.
Yours sincerely,
-
Peter Ryan, Executive Director, New Brunswick Right to Life;
Past President, LifeCanada (506-459-8990)
-
Jakki Jeffs, President, LifeCanada (519-824-7797)
-
Dr. Darrel Reid, President, Focus on the Family Canada
(604-539-7936)
-
Most Rev. Adam Exner, OMI, Archbishop of Vancouver
(604-683-0281)
-
Will Johnston, MD, President, Canadian Physicians for Life
(604-325-4155)
-
Lorraine McNamara, President, REAL Women of Canada
(613-236-4001)
-
Roy Beyer, President, Canada Family Action Coalition
(403-295-2159)
-
Ted Byfield, Report Magazine (780-487-6474)
-
Dennis Savoie, Director, International Board, Knights of
Columbus (506-460-6262)
-
Rev. Alphonse de Valk, CSB, Editor, Catholic Insight
(416-204-9601)
-
Gwen Landolt, REAL Women of Canada (613-236-4001)
-
Brian Rushfeldt, Executive Director, Canada Family Action
Coalition (403-295-2159)
-
Most Rev. David Monroe, Bishop of Kamloops (250-376-3351)
-
Jean-Marie LeBlanc, State Deputy, New Brunswick Knights of
Columbus (506-576-6723)
-
Joanne Byfield, President, Alberta Pro-Life (780-939-6365)
-
Most Rev. Eugene J. Cooney, Bishop of Nelson (250-354-4740)
-
Donald DeMarco, Author, Professor of Philosophy (519-742-6593)
-
Most Rev. Raymond Roussin, Bishop of Victoria (250-479-1331)
|
