The recently passed Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill in Britain makes prophetic the "Brave New World" Aldous Huxley wrote about, way back in 1932.
We have to be aghast, knowing that this could be the path the United States and the rest of Europe may soon be headed down. And read between the lines of the last paragraph we have excerpted - what pressures will be brought to bear on scientists, hospitals and universities that refuse to take part or promote anything-goes genetic manipulation, or human-animal cloning, to name just two outrages?
As the author writes, "the angels weep."
The pro-life movement in Britain just fought a losing battle ... What lessons are to be learned?
Defending Life Against Unaccountable Power
... now that the bill has been passed and signed into law, I imagine that the said authority has never felt more reassured and smug. It surely is enough to make the angels weep.
Everything is now approved, every taboo is broken, every possible outrage against human dignity is now formally endorsed: animal-human embryos, artificial gametes, cloning using two maternal egg sources, germline manipulation, preimplantation diagnosis for eugenic purposes, posthumous conception, removal of the child’s need for a father, use of tissue without proper consent … The list goes on.
‘We lost every vote’
We fought hard against the bill. The Catholic Church, strengthened by its clear position on the right to life of the human embryo, was particularly vocal, and a great deal of activity was centred around other Christian churches as well. Many of the pro-life organisations grouped together under the banner Passion for Life, and, with a platform which included parliamentarians David Alton, Ann Widdecombe, Geraldine Smith and David Burrowes, travelled the land conducting rallies and encouraging the audiences to make their voices heard. Two million postcards of opposition were sent to MPs from around the country, and everyone was encouraged to lobby personally their individual representatives. There were protests in Parliament Square, briefings, debates, processions, prayers. And we lost every vote.
The old 1990 Act was already responsible for breaking most rules regarding the inviolability of the human embryo, but it left in place some restrictions, some inclination towards morality rather than the absolute scientific imperative, and vaguely endorsed the rights of children to traditional family life. The new law represents a total victory for science, for genetic determinism, for unconstrained reproductive freedom. Even more worryingly, it has a built-in capacity for limitless liberty, a quality proudly described as “future-proofing” by health minister, Dawn Primarolo.
Summing up in the House of Commons, having assured us cryptically that “The kaleidoscope of science is coming to a rest,” Ms Primarolo proudly asserted that no longer will the “extremes of scientific progress be blocked by red tape, stifled by regulation, or frustrated by a regime that fails to keep pace."
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