Examination of Witnesses (Questions 173
- 179)
WEDNESDAY 23 JUNE 2004
MS ALISON
DAVIS, MR
PATRICK MAHON
AND DR
MAUREEN MCHUGH
Q173 Chairman: Thank you very much
for coming along. I think you have been sitting in a little earlier
and you have heard the questioning and seen how it work and so
on. I wonder if you would briefly say what your interest in this
is and what organisation you represent so that we can have it
for the record. Alison, would you like to start? You may have
to speak up a little as the sound for some reason is not loud.
Is it possible to turn the sound up?
Ms Davis: I have spina bifida,
hydrocephalus, osteoporosis and emphysema. I run a group called
No Less Human for disabled people, their families and carers,
and we campaign for the equal right to life for all disabled people
from fertilisation to natural death, although I took part in the
on-line discussion in a personal capacity.
Q174 Chairman: Thank you very much.
Maureen?
Dr McHugh: I am Maureen McHugh.
I have had Parkinson's Disease for eight years and I am part of
a group called SPRING.
Q175 Chairman: It is difficult to
hear, could we have some help with that.
Dr McHugh: My name is Maureen
McHugh. I have had Parkinson's Disease for eight years. I am belong
to a group called SPRING—Special Parkinson's Research Interest
Group. We are part of the Parkinson's Society but we are a group
of carers and patients who are dedicated to finding better treatment
and a cure for Parkinson's Disease. I have contributed to the
on-line debate and was also closely involved in the 2000 and 2002
campaigns to have embryonic stem cell research and cloning for
therapeutic purposes legalised in the United Kingdom.
Q176 Chairman: That is fine, thank
you very much indeed, that is very helpful. Patrick?
Mr Mahon: My name is Patrick Mahon
and I am involved for two reasons. One is a personal one that
I am an identical twin so I am a clone so the element of the debate
that relates to cloning seems directly relevant to me. Also I
am here in a personal capacity but I used to work on genetics
policy until about six months ago when I changed jobs. So that
is where my interest came professionally although I have a personal
interest as well.
Chairman: Fine. Evan?
Q177 Dr Harris: I would like to talk
mainly to Alison at this point but please feel free to chip in.
As I understand it, your group is part of the Society for the
Protection of Unborn Children; is that right?
Ms Davis: That is right.
Q178 Dr Harris: I am going to work
on the assumption—and that is fine—that you are against
abortion and you believe in the right to life from conception
of embryos.
Ms Davis: Yes.
Q179 Dr Harris: I want to ask you
therefore if it could be sorted so that we could avoid significantly
disabled embryos and foetuses and babies being born by selecting
gametes—that is sperm and eggs not life by your definition—would
that be something that you would encourage for the practical reason
that it would (and let us assume it would) reduce the number of
abortions that took place for so-called medical reasons?
Ms Davis: As you said, gametes
are not human beings and therefore it is a different question.
I think that the environment in which human beings ought to be
created is not a laboratory so I would be concerned about that
happening but, having said that, of course, it does not kill anyone
and so it is a different issue.
| 
