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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

I agree. I am pleased that members of the scientific community, after many years of coaxing, are beginning to put their heads above the parapet and tackle publicly the issues with which they have to deal. The hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis) expressed the age-old scientific conundrum that we do not know the question until we have got the answer. That is the fundamental reason for ensuring that hybrid embryos are available for research under the strictest regulatory regime. I am loth to deny the opportunity for the development of new science and technologies by restricting the ability to use embryonic stem cells. There is an unspoken demand for instant results from embryonic stem cell research. After decades of expensive research using mechanical and chemical means, we are still trying to deal with cancer. It could well take decades before there are results from embryonic stem cell research, but let us go with it. All the science that I understand suggests that the opportunities of getting perfect results could be greater through using embryonic stem cells. I therefore believe that we should ensure that the opportunity to conduct embryonic stem cell research is available to the scientists who need it. One of the few letters that I received in support of the Bill—I have had many that oppose it—was from one of my constituents who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He movingly wrote:"““It offers me a ray of hope—perhaps I'll be able to profit from the research in, say, ten years' time, when my eldest grandchildren will just be of an age for University entrance. I want to know what happens to them””." That is an admirable ambition, especially given that the gentleman is 65. We need to ensure the way forward. There has been much debate about the use of siblings for replacement therapies. I understand the difficulties and I am glad that the Secretary of State pointed out that the Bill does not allow the use of organs. Sadly, I have been struck by how negatively the parenting aspect has been perceived. All the comments have implied that the sibling will be regarded as a victim, instead of praising intelligent parenting, which could allow the child to think, ““Actually, I'm doing something really good””, and to feel proud of helping to keep their brother or sister alive. I believe that we should adopt a much more positive approach to the matter. I am conscious of the points that have been made about fathers. Having listened carefully to the arguments, I will probably support the amendments that my Front Benchers table. In this day and age, we are confronted with the fact that so much of the breakdown of parenting is due to the lack of fathers. It is symbolically right for the House to reiterate fathers' importance in the family. We all know that we will have extensive debates about abortion. I have grown grey discussing that subject, given that I first made a speech about it when I was at university in the 1960s and have been going on about it ever since. I will support the 24-week limit. I believe that the evidence shows that there is no difference between survival rates at 24 weeks now and those when the House reduced the limit to 24 weeks. I supported that reduction. I am primarily concerned about the women who are most likely to have to have a late abortion. They are the women who find, very late in a pregnancy, that there is a foetal abnormality; the women in the middle of the menopause who cannot believe what is happening; the women with mental health problems; and the underage girls who dare not admit to themselves that they are pregnant. Taken together, those groups are exceedingly vulnerable. We should be supporting them, not condemning them. I was so pleased to hear my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) say that we should improve abortion services for women in the first trimester. I shall be supporting the proposal to have a single signature on the consent document, which is the normal process anyway. The flip-side of our discussions about abortion is this: why do we have so many abortions? We have to answer that our sex and relationship education is somehow not of the quality and calibre that it should be. I hope that the positive message that emerges from our discussions on abortion—sadly, they will be far too limited by the timetable motion and will generate an enormous amount of heat and distress, both inside and outside this Chamber—is that we ought to be examining where the failure is. Why do so many women have to resort to abortion? Many of them know no better. That is the real failure in our society. Our girls should know better. We shall be failing as a society if we do not ensure that in future they do know better.