THE Australian Catholic Bishops Conference says human life is now for sale after the Senate passed new embryonic stem cell research laws.
The Senate approved an amended version of the bill by 45 votes to 26 on December 5, allowing Australian scientists to create embryonic stem-cell lines from discarded IVF embryos.
The House of Representatives was expected to consider the amended bill last week.
Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide said the parliament had crossed a new and dangerous line.
He said the new laws sacrificed human life for profit.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s research fellow, barrister Dr Warwick Neville, who presented the bishops’ submission to the Senate committee, said the new laws made human life available for exploitation and destruction.
Director of the Queensland Bioethics Centre, Ray Campbell, said the bill created a class of human beings who, rather than being protected by law, were to be killed in the interests of science.
Catholic Health Australia’s chief executive officer, Francis Sullivan, said the legislation established a dangerous legal precedent.
Australian Federation of Right to Life Associations spokeswoman, Mary Joseph, said the new laws broke a basic principle of human rights that a human being should never be sacrificed for the benefit of another.
Queensland Right to Life president, Dr Donna Purcell, said the legislation would ‘poison the philosophical basis for this nation’s research industry for decades’.
National Party senator Ron Boswell said the December 5 vote was the most disappointing result in his 20 years in parliament.
He and fellow Queensland Labor senator John Hogg were among those who spoke out against the bill.
