CLONING AND STEM CELL BILL PROGRESSING WELL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000947 SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STAS (NEUREITER/REYNOLDS), WHA/CAN (RUNNING) WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP (GABRIEL & LEVINSON) HHS FOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (STEIGER) STATE PASS TO PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO PHUM TSPL SOCI KSCA CA SUBJECT: CLONING AND STEM CELL BILL PROGRESSING WELL REF: (A) 2002 OTTAWA 1706 (B) 2002 OTTAWA 836 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. Bill C-13, "An Act Respecting Assisted Human Reproduction," was introduced into the Canadian House of Commons on October 9, 2002. If enacted, it would ban human cloning for both reproductive and research/therapeutic purposes. The legislation, itself a clone of Bill C-56 (Ref A),which died when Parliament was prorogued in September 2002, will prohibit cloning, as well as regulate Assisted Human Reproductive (AHR) activities and related research. The bill would allow research on human embryos that remain after fertility treatment. Such use would require free and informed consent by the parents, and would require a government license. To control activity involving new reproductive technologies, stem cells and cloning, the legislation proposes the establishment of a new agency, the Assisted Human Reproductive Agency of Canada. The bill is expected to pass final muster in the House of Commons within days and move on to scrutiny in the Canadian Senate. End summary. -------------- -------------- Legislation prohibits and controls many activities -------------- -------------- ¶2. On October 9, 2002 Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan introduced Bill C-13 (formerly C-56) "An Act Respecting Assisted Human Reproduction" into the House of Commons. It covers a number of controversial issues, including access to embryonic stem cells for research, cloning and surrogate motherhood. The final House of Commons vote on Bill C-13, is expected as early as April 3rd. If passed by the House of Commons, the bill will move to the Senate, where it will face light scrutiny in the Liberal-dominated chamber (which is characterized by its members being appointed by the Prime Minister rather than being elected through general elections). ¶3. Prohibited Activities: The bill prohibits a number of specific activities that must not be carried out under any circumstances, including germ-line alteration, animal/human hybrids and the commercialization of procreation. These prohibited activities remain unchanged from the predecessor legislation (ref A). ¶4. "Controlled Activities", on the other hand, may be carried out, but only in accordance with the legislation and regulations. The proposed law requires that a license be authorized for any activities related to maintenance/transportation/ or importation/exportation of an "in vitro" embryo. (It is interesting to note that proposed US cloning legislation (HR-534 and S-245),in addition to banning the commercialization of cloned embryos, also prohibits the importation of medical therapies created from cloned embryos. We will be watching whether this will have an impact on Canadian research efforts with embryos. End Comment.) ¶5. Bill C-13, like its predecessor C-56, describes embryonic stem cell research as a controlled activity. While the legislation bans cloning and also the creation of embryos expressly for research, it permits the use of "surplus" embryos for extraction of stem cells. In addressing this issue, Bill C-13 specifies that licenses for such research may be issued only if researchers can satisfy the Agency that pre-existing embryonic stem cell lines or other means cannot be substituted. -------------- Assisted Human Reproductive Agency proposed -------------- ¶6. To enforce the Act, license and manage controlled activities, such as performing research on surplus "in vitro" embryos, the bill calls for the establishment of the "Assisted Human Reproductive Agency of Canada." Reporting to the Minister of Health, the agency would have a broad mandate, including the collection, analysis and management of a vast array of personal information under the rubric of "health reporting information." -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. The Quebec-based Raelians' December 2002 claim they had successfully cloned a human being and that more were on the way, provoked a media frenzy and highlighted the pressing need for a law prohibiting human cloning. The timeliness of the bill, however, does not shield it from critics; leading research funding advocates such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) are making a final plea to parliamentarians to reconsider C-13's ban of therapeutic cloning of any kind (cloning or embryo- splitting) for any purpose, either reproduction or research. On the other hand, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging MPs to strengthen the bill, by amending it to prohibit research on surplus human embryos. Observers note, however, that amendments to this bill, particularly in the context of therapeutic cloning are unlikely. ¶8. The complete text of Bill C-13, "An Act Respecting Assisted Human Reproduction" is available at the Canadian Parliament's website: www.parl.gc.ca. Look for C-13 under the rubric "Bills"; then "House of Commons"; then "Government Bills". Cellucci