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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank my noble and learned friend for permitting me to go before him. I should like to support this amendment and to speak to the amendments to which I have added my name. I do not consider this to be a question of selective morality. I am not a crusader—that is the last thing I am. I am not opposed to civil partners, and when I was a judge I made orders that handed children to same-sex parents. So I stand very much in the middle. I listened with interest to what the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, said about his daughter, and good luck to her. I would not be opposed in any way to what she and her partner do. The amendments that I have tabled and the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, which I support, have the underlying purpose of trying to find a suitable form of words to express the view that good and supportive parenting is of great importance to a child about to be born, bearing in mind the purpose of the legislation with which we are concerned today, but the government amendment, which is welcome, does not go far enough. I know that I am not alone in this House in that view. The 1990 Act expressly required attention to the importance of the father figure in looking at the welfare of the child. In 2008, most of us recognise that a single-sex couple can provide a good upbringing for children—as the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, has pointed out—and that the specific drawing of attention to the need for a father may be more than is appropriate, although I do doubt it. We must not shut our eyes or shrink from speaking out about the advantages of both a male and female parent, and the possible disadvantages of bringing up a child without the influence of a person of the opposite sex to the parents. To recognise the advantages of a male and a female influence in a child’s life in whatever way that may occur—I look more broadly than the mother and father; I have in mind godparents, uncles and aunts, and grandparents—and to look for a reassurance on that aspect of bringing up a child under the provisions of this Bill would not, in my view, breach any of the articles of the human rights convention. The Government are unnecessarily concerned about the impact of the Human Rights Act on these amendments, and indeed about the promotion of equality. This is a Government who have criticised the unnecessary application of the Human Rights Act from time to time, and on this occasion they should not be looking to put reasonable amendments into a straitjacket which the human rights convention does not impose. It also most certainly is not seen in other parts of the European community. The use of the words covering the advantages or disadvantages of having a father and a mother does not discriminate against the single parent or a same-sex couple. I discussed these amendments with a leading member of Stonewall, who is a lawyer. He laughed when I told him that this was considered to be discriminatory and contrary to human rights, and he could see no objection to the use of the words ““mother”” and ““father””. But the inclusion of those words alerts the would-be parents as well as the clinic to such advantages. There is another reason for objecting to the words ““supportive parenting”” without anything further. It would be wrong for the House to ignore the implications of a decision to delete the phrase, ““the need … for a father”” and replacing it with the well-meaning phrase, ““supportive parenting””. The publication of the Bill with the intention to delete the phrase has already been picked up by fathers’ organisations and was the lead article in the magazine McKenzie, sent to me by post from one of the fathers’ organisations. It has already led to the suggestion that this Government do not think that fathers are important in a child’s life. Is that really the message this Government want to send? I strongly support Amendment No. 111, to which I have also added my name. So far it has not been found, although some of us are trying have it put into the Children and Young Persons Bill, which is currently before the House. I hope that it will be included. It can only be found in the decisions of the courts, which are not easily available to the majority of people, but it is to be found in the Children Act 1995, and this is an occasion when we might usefully follow the Scottish lead. However, I did hear the Minister suggest that it would be put into statutory guidance; certainly for me, that would be sufficient.