Hybrids bill: ammendment fails; HFEA already licencing hybrids

From SPUC: An attempt to ban the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos failed last
night when the House of Lords rejected Lord Alton's amendment to the
British government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill by 268
votes to 96. The bill allows research on hybrid embryos for 14 days after
their creation. The Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of
Winchester spoke in favour of the amendment, as did Lord Tebbit. [BBC, 15
January] The group Christians Concerned for Our Nation held a
demonstration outside parliament during the debate. In his blog, SPUC's
John Smeaton today writes: "It's now all the more important that
pro-lifers contact Peers to urge them to vote against the Bill at third
reading which could be as early as the 28th of this month." [SPUC Director
blog, 16 January]

From Christian Concern for Our Nation: HFEA grant licences for human-animal hybrid embryos The fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, have taken the controversial step of granting licences to two research centres to create human-animal hybrid embryos. The democratically elected House of Commons have not yet voted on whether or not such research should be legal, and are expected to do so in the coming weeks. The Christian Legal Centre (CLC) and Comment on Reproductive
Ethics (CORE) are considering whether to bring a legal challenge against the
HFEA.