Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether human embryos have any rights or protections enshrined in United Kingdom or international law; and if so, what is the extent of those rights or protections.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, places a number of prohibitions on the use of human embryos in assisted reproduction and research.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 25 February (HL4988), why they have not signed or ratified the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine; and whether they intend to do so.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine covers a very wide range of complex ethical and legal issues. These issues involve a large number of different policy areas which are covered by a mixture of United Kingdom legislation and common law and some of the relevant policy areas are within the competence of the devolved administrations.
In common with a number of other European Union states, the UK has not signed or ratified the Convention.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European Union legislation they have considered in framing the proposed draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015; what view they have taken on the applicability of the European Union legislation; and what is the basis for their view.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As I said in the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 on 24 February 2015 (columns 1570 and 1617-8) the Government is satisfied that the Regulations do not contravene any aspect of European Union law. It has carefully considered recent arguments relating to the Clinical Trials Directive (Directive 2001/20/EC) but is satisfied that the Directive is not relevant in this context as it relates to clinical trials of medicines.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the principles and prohibitions regarding eugenic practices in the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine form part of the constitutional traditions common to member states of the European Union.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The United Kingdom has not signed or ratified the Council of Europe’s Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 14 May (WA 511), why they have no set date for the full ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government does not support eugenic practices. It is not considered helpful to interpret the term ‘eugenic practices' other than by reference to its ordinarily understood meaning. Any attempt at a working definition would risk the unintentional exclusion of practices whose unacceptability is no less great than that of practices captured by such a definition.
As previously stated, in the United Kingdom, the complex nature of devolved responsibilities in this range of policy areas has delayed consideration of full ratification. In the meantime, the UK continues to take an active role in Council of Europe negotiations and development of relevant protocols.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 14 May (WA 511), and in the light of the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 8 April (WA 267) stating that they do not support eugenic practices in the United Kingdom, why they have no definitions of what these practices might be.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government does not support eugenic practices. It is not considered helpful to interpret the term ‘eugenic practices' other than by reference to its ordinarily understood meaning. Any attempt at a working definition would risk the unintentional exclusion of practices whose unacceptability is no less great than that of practices captured by such a definition.
As previously stated, in the United Kingdom, the complex nature of devolved responsibilities in this range of policy areas has delayed consideration of full ratification. In the meantime, the UK continues to take an active role in Council of Europe negotiations and development of relevant protocols.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 14 May (WA 499), what is their assessment of whether issuing guidance by amending the wording of form HSA1 would represent an act of secondary legislation or a change in the Abortion Act 1967.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Any changes to the wording of the HSA1 form, if needed, would require changes to secondary legislation. Such changes could not be introduced through guidance, which makes no changes to abortion legislation.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the evidence cited in the article "An Increase in the Sex Ratio of Births to India-born Mothers in England and Wales: Evidence for Sex-Selective Abortion" by Sylvie Dubuc and David Coleman published in Population and Development Review, vol 33, No. 2 (June 2007), pp383–400.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
This article is a useful addition to the evidence base around sex selective abortions.
On 23 May 2014 the Department published updated analysis of birth ratios for England and Wales 2008-2012. The analyses by country of birth and ethnicity did not offer evidence of sex selection taking place within England and Wales. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library. It is also available at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-male-to-female-birth-ratios-in-the-uk-2008-to-2012.
The Department will repeat this analysis on an annual basis following publication of birth data and remain vigilant and receptive to reports of such practice.