Human Fertilisation & Embryology Bill

Urgent action: please write to peers urging them to vote against the Bill. The bill will allow the production of human-animal hybrids (see our briefing), among other things. See SPUC's leaflet here, which lists the best peers to lobby and how to do so. For their email addresses see here.

The government's new embryo research bill has now been formally announced, and it is due to have its critical '2nd Reading' (the first chance for a vote on the bill) in the House of Lords next Monday week, 19 NOVEMBER. The recent changes to the earlier draft bill have made it worse in a number of ways - but the core of the bill is still the same.

I AM ASKING YOU NOW, FIRST AND FOREMOST, TO WRITE TO LORDS, ASKING THEM TO OPPOSE THE BILL IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS ON 19 NOVEMBER.

Secondly, as we do not have time to print a flyer centrally, I would also ask you, please, to duplicate this flyer locally and distribute it as widely as possible - THIS WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. BY NEXT WEEKEND IT WILL BE TOO LATE FOR PEOPLE TO WRITE TO LORDS BEFORE THE VOTE. Therefore, please:

We are of course acutely conscious of the fact that this bill may also be a vehicle for amending the abortion law. The recent select committee report (29th October), strongly promoted amendments that will worsen the law, confirming the worst predictions of what will happen if the bill, and the amendments, go ahead.