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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

I find it very difficult to disagree with the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, for whom I have such respect, but I, too, sat on that committee. Just over a week ago, my 95 year-old mother died. She did social work with children all her working life and became one of the greatest experts on adoption in the United Kingdom. Her three children were left without a father at a very young age. I was the eldest. My two younger siblings did not know their father. As I grow older, there is hardly a single day when I do not think more about my father than I did as a child. Therefore, I am making this speech with great care because I want to make absolutely sure that I am not saying something unreasonable. In moving the amendment, the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, said that the law had worked well. However, that is an assertion. How do we know that the law has worked well? I do not think that it has worked particularly well. I do not think that it is a workable law. Of all the people who have spoken this afternoon, I am the one person who in the last 30 years or so has sat in front of infertile patients who want to have treatment. I absolutely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, that it is not appropriate for doctors to police these things in our society. It is dangerous for us to do so and leads to all sorts of problems. It is one of the reasons why doctors recently have sometimes got into trouble, because they have tried to interpret what is in the interests of society rather than understanding above all the autonomy of the patient sitting in front of them. I know that this may sound like an exaggeration, but it is interesting to consider the position of the Nazi doctor. Nazi doctors no doubt were working with altruism in their hearts. They believed that what they were doing was in the interest of society. What they forgot was what was in the interest of their patient and the interest of the autonomy of the person seeking help at a time of great pain. That is a very important thing for us to remember. There are unforetold consequences that have to be spelt out if we are to continue with this. I do not know whether or not this has happened before with in vitro fertilisation, but I must say to my noble friend Lord Warner that it is no good ignoring the evidence. You cannot simply say that you are not interested in the research. The research is fundamentally important to the argument. As the right reverend Prelate has pointed out, there is good research evidence to suggest that, for example, in the case of lesbian couples—