Care not panic with gene law, urges society

The Infertility Society has called for "responsible debate, not panic," before any law is passed on the genetic alteration of humans.

The society supports laws to guide the use of this kind of technology but wants more public debate on it, says its executive officer, Robyn Scott.

"Infertility and its treatment is not well understood by the general public and yet it affects one in every six New Zealanders.

"While legislation is needed, it is also vital that whatever we put in place protects the rights of everyone involved and is sound and practical.

"It is counter-productive to rush legislation through because of the unsubstantiated fears that ART [assisted reproductive technology] is out of control."

Prime Minister Helen Clark had said that reports of babies having their genetic make-up altered had given the Government a sense of urgency in advancing legislation to deal with the issue in New Zealand.

It has been reported that the first genetically modified humans have been born in the United States after genes from the eggs of donor women were added to the eggs of infertile women.

Mrs Scott said recent comments had been alarmist and did not reflect the present reality about how ART was managed here.

"While not legislated, [ART] is managed very responsibly and conservatively by world standards."

New legislation would strengthen accountability around ART and the governing ethics body, but there was no need for a heavy and expensive regulatory authority, she said.

The Government is working on merging two pieces of legislation, covering gene and reproductive technology, with a cabinet paper on the issue planned for the end of the month.

Labour MP Dianne Yates' Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, which would ban the cloning of human embryos, has been before Parliament's health select committee since 1996.

In 1998, the previous Government introduced the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, which also calls for cloning to be banned.

Helen Clark said that when the laws were first proposed there was a feeling they were dealing with almost a "science fiction fantasy which was years away."

"It is a here-and-now issue.

"If it is possible for it to happen in the States, it is possible to happen here."

The Infertility Society criticised the time it had taken to produce legislation and said it was vital the public had another chance to present submissions on the matter given the length of time since the bills were introduced.

- NZPA

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