OTTAWA: Anti-Cloning Bill To Be Reintroduced, But Prospects For Passage Unclear

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

OTTAWA: Anti-Cloning Bill To Be Reintroduced, But Prospects For Passage Unclear
DENNIS BUECKERT

8 Jan 2004

OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government will reintroduce the anti-cloning bill 
which died in the Senate before the change
of Liberal leadership, a spokesman for Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday.

But it is impossible to predict whether the law will be passed before the next 
election, said Mario Lague in an
interview. "Quite frankly, with how much time we'll have to get everything 
done, I couldn't tell you." Lague said he
expected the bill would be reintroduced without amendment.

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act has been in the works for more than 10 
years, ever since a royal commission
recommended legislation to govern a host of new reproductive technologies.

It would ban human cloning and commercial surrogate motherhood contracts. It 
would set rules on embryonic stem cell
research and create an agency to monitor fertility clinics.

The bill passed the Commons in the last legislative session despite fierce 
opposition from pro-life MPs who oppose the
use of surplus embryos for research purposes.

It died in the Senate when the House prorogued, but it could be reintroduced in 
the Senate without having to pass again
in the Commons.

The Senate likely would hold hearings on the legislation, since it is complex 
and controversial, and that could take
weeks or months. An election is expected in the spring.

Martin has identified three bills as priorities: a law to rearrange riding 
boundaries; one to facilitate the sale of
inexpensive AIDS drugs to poor countries; and one to create a more independent 
ethics counsellor.

"This one is also at the top of the list but there is a batting order," said 
Lague. "There is a timing issue. Your
guess is as good as mine right now (whether it will pass)."

Genetic scientists are impatient for the bill to become law because federal 
funding for stem cell research has stalled,
and it is assumed this is due to the lack of framework legislation.

SOURCE: Canada East, Canada


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