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Committee of the Whole House (HC) and Debate on bill on Tuesday, 20 May 2008, in the House of Commons.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [Lords]

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (HL). Committee stage second day. Clause 14 debated. Amendment 21 negatived on division (292 votes to 217). Amendment 12 negatived on division (290 votes to 222). Clauses 14 and 23 agreed to. New Clause 1 debated and negatived on division (393 votes to 71). New Clause 3 negatived on division (387 votes to 84). New Clause 5 negatived on division (332 votes to 190). New Clause 8 negatived on division (309 votes to 173). New Clause 9 negatived on division (304 votes to 233). Bill (Clauses 4, 11, 14 and 23 and Schedule 2) reported with amendments.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
476 c166-290 
Session
2007-08
Department
Department of Health
Legislative stage
Committee stage
Procedure
New clauses
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c195 (Link to this contribution) No, I would like to make some progress. The Bill requires a clinician to take into account the welf...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c224 (Link to this contribution) Order. Will Members who are leaving the Chamber do so quietly, please?
Show all contributions (428)
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c222 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2—Amendment of the law relating...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c238-40 (Link to this contribution) I do not recall having said that. What I am saying is that putting restrictions in the way of women ...
Greg Clark | 476 c184 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman has been misled about what is possible now. Let me add to the exampl...
Desmond Turner | 476 c184 (Link to this contribution) I am very glad of that, but the hon. Gentleman is providing an example that illustrates the inadequa...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c182 (Link to this contribution) Has the hon. Gentleman actually read the wording of the original Act that this will amend? Let me re...
Desmond Turner | 476 c182 (Link to this contribution) In this instance, the need to take account of something strongly implies the requirement to produce ...
Ian Gibson | 476 c183 (Link to this contribution) There is another inconsistency. If a woman has tubal or hormonal therapy for infertility problems, n...
Desmond Turner | 476 c183 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend and I thank him for his intervention.
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c183 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman made the point that we do not make such provisions for adoption. He should recogn...
Desmond Turner | 476 c183 (Link to this contribution) The situations are entirely analogous, because they both involve the creation of a family with a chi...
Andy Slaughter | 476 c186 (Link to this contribution) As proposed, the need for a father or for a male role model is an additional requirement to the 1990...
Desmond Turner | 476 c184 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The point about postcode discrimination is valid. We have he...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 476 c184 (Link to this contribution) On discrimination, does the hon. Gentleman accept that the real discrimination takes place in the pr...
Desmond Turner | 476 c184 (Link to this contribution) No, once is enough. The essential thing is supportive parenting. It does not matter whether that sup...
Brian Iddon | 476 c184 (Link to this contribution) It is important that we put on the record what Baroness Deech, who after all has some knowledge of s...
John Pugh | 476 c185 (Link to this contribution) Is there not another side to the argument? The hon. Gentleman warns about neglecting the needs of th...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c185-6 (Link to this contribution) That is why my amendments would not remove the phrase ““supportive parenting”” from the Bill. I do n...
Desmond Turner | 476 c184 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman. I deplore the postcode discrimination in carrying out the...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c184-5 (Link to this contribution) It is always interesting to follow the hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Dr. Turner). The one issu...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely, and if there were evidence to show a detrimental impact on the child's welfare and if ev...
Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I do not understand the logic of my hon. Friend's position. If he is saying that th...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) That is why I have tabled my amendments, which not only maintain the need for a father but extend th...
Lynne Jones | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) Hon. Members on both sides of the Committee recognise that, in taking decisions, the welfare of the ...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) That intervention was very confusing; it is a logical argument for taking out in totality reference ...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether another response to the right hon. Lady would be very simply that we are not are se...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my right hon. Friend, and my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury forensically...
David Burrowes | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) Is not the burden on the Government to prove to us that their proposal to remove the requirement to ...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c186 (Link to this contribution) First, the evidence is that that requirement is sought in clinics already, as I have said already. S...
Tony Wright | 476 c188 (Link to this contribution) Does not what the hon. Gentleman says, and indeed all our exchanges this afternoon, show only one th...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c189 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a sensible point, but it is important that, through the Bill, we send a mes...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c188 (Link to this contribution) I should like to make some progress. As Lord Darzi confirmed in the other place, there is no evidenc...
Pete Wishart | 476 c188 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mark Simmonds | 476 c188 (Link to this contribution) Let me make some progress and answer the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c188 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree with that analysis at all, because at present, when there is no direct father figure,...
Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 476 c188 (Link to this contribution) Given my hon. Friend's answer to my earlier intervention, he appears to be saying that he is attempt...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c188 (Link to this contribution) The need for a father or a male role model ensures that the welfare of the child can be maximised, b...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c189 (Link to this contribution) May I make some progress? I shall be happy to give way to my hon. Friend later.
Glenda Jackson | 476 c189 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the central message that the hon. Gentleman wishes to send to the country will be picked...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c189 (Link to this contribution) Let me make some progress. The Joint Committee on the Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill conclude...
John Bercow | 476 c189-90 (Link to this contribution) The logical corollary of my hon. Friend arguing that account must be taken of the role of the father...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c189 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being facetious. It is not for Parliament to detail a list of male role models...
Pete Wishart | 476 c189 (Link to this contribution) I am genuinely interested in the description of a ““male role model””. The hon. Gentleman mentioned ...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c189 (Link to this contribution) Interestingly enough, I was just about to come on to that point. I agree with the hon. Lady, and I s...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 476 c190 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who more than anyone else has proved to the Committee why getti...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c190 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree with the basis of my hon. Friend's argument or the point that he makes. I would argue...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c190 (Link to this contribution) I shall draw my remarks to a conclusion. The Bill as drafted represents a decision by the state to r...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c190-1 (Link to this contribution) The need for a father provision has provoked much debate here and in another place. It is important ...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c191 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's intervention, which relates to my next point. In his opening ...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c191 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not give way. Just a moment. Quality of parenting will make the difference to the child'...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c191 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the right hon. Gentleman.
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c192 (Link to this contribution) If the right hon. Gentleman will be patient and let me finish my response to his intervention, I sha...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c192 (Link to this contribution) I have to say that I hope the right hon. Lady does not emerge out of her hole, but here we go. She i...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c192 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman's logic does not bear scrutiny.
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c192 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman cannot have it both ways. He uses so-called evidence about family structure...
Lord Wilson of Sedgefield | 476 c193 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way; I just want a point of information. My problem with the...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c192-3 (Link to this contribution) I will just make this point, and then I shall take interventions. A supportive parent would be will...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c192 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman wants to start with a different proposition entirely from that of the Gover...
Iris Robinson | 476 c193-4 (Link to this contribution) I note that the Minister places great importance on the quality of parenting. Can she envisage, down...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c194 (Link to this contribution) With respect, I do not think that those comments have any place in the debate. Children are loved by...
John Bercow | 476 c194 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson) has passionate views, and I respect...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c194 (Link to this contribution) Order. It might be appropriate if we reverted to the content of the amendment that is currently unde...
Bernard Jenkin | 476 c193 (Link to this contribution) I commend the way in which the right hon. Lady has treated this debate, and the other debates, but I...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c193 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman about the quality of parenting being crucial. The removal ...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c193 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson).
Dari Taylor | 476 c194 (Link to this contribution) We are all seriously passionate about getting the matter right. We want to get it right because the ...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c194 (Link to this contribution) I believe that the debate would be improved if all hon. Members were direct and open about their vie...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c194 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes her point passionately, as she has done in previous debates. The Committee is n...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c194-5 (Link to this contribution) Let me make a little progress, and then of course I will take more interventions. However, I am cons...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c195-6 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. Reference has been made to the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Bill. ...
Gary Streeter | 476 c195 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way on that point?
Geraldine Smith | 476 c196 (Link to this contribution) People often say that politicians do not listen. Have the Government consulted on this change? If so...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c196 (Link to this contribution) Yes, we did consult on the change, and the full consultation was published. My hon. Friend follows t...
Gary Streeter | 476 c197 (Link to this contribution) Let me clarify the Government's position. Does the Minister believe that a child in a family unit co...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c196-7 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. Including a reference to the need for a father or for a male role model would send ...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c197 (Link to this contribution) No, the hon. Gentleman knows that that is not the Government's position. He is seeking to use a part...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c197 (Link to this contribution) That is hardly a point of order for the Chair, but, as always, I hope that Members, knowing the pres...
Lord Cormack | 476 c197 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mrs. Heal. I do not wish to detain the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdo...
Sammy Wilson | 476 c198 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that this is not about bringing more fathers into families, but about...
Evan Harris | 476 c197-8 (Link to this contribution) May I say to the hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack) that I am certainly aware...
Evan Harris | 476 c198-9 (Link to this contribution) I have always taken the view that statute should not be used simply to send out a message, as there ...
George Howarth | 476 c212 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the statistics that the hon. Gentleman cites are correct, but does he agree that in s...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c178 (Link to this contribution) As I am nearing the end of my speech, perhaps I should take some interventions now.
Julian Lewis | 476 c183 (Link to this contribution) I have a close relative who is a single woman who wishes to have a child by IVF. She is governed by ...
Desmond Turner | 476 c183 (Link to this contribution) I endorse that entirely and I am glad that the system has worked in her case. However, it is much mo...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c187 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman explain to the Committee why he wants to put into legislation proposals that...
Gerald Howarth | 476 c191 (Link to this contribution) What research has been carried out by the Minister's Department or anyone else into the likely effec...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c203-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall try to be brief, as I know that many Members wish to speak. First, let me strongly state th...
Mike Penning | 476 c244 (Link to this contribution) No. This consultant said that that was morally unacceptable and asked us please to vote for 20 weeks...
Mike Penning | 476 c243 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Sir Michael. As this is such an important debate, I would have thought any meetings that ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c243 (Link to this contribution) Order. It would be helpful if hon. Members could listen to this part of the debate.
William Cash | 476 c243 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with my hon. Friend about the need for education. Does he agree that, apart from a...
Angela C Smith | 476 c244 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mike Penning | 476 c243-4 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my hon. Friend; with the choice of whether to have sex with one's partner co...
Angela C Smith | 476 c244 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mike Penning | 476 c244 (Link to this contribution) No. He continued by saying that in the next room, his colleagues were terminating babies of the same...
Mike Penning | 476 c242-3 (Link to this contribution) I should like to make some progress. I know that, in some of her TV interviews, the Minister has co...
Mike Penning | 476 c242 (Link to this contribution) I should like to make a little progress. I want to move on to the sheer quantity of abortions taki...
Stewart Hosie | 476 c241 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a point about the time that we have to debate these matters. Does he agree ...
Mike Penning | 476 c240-1 (Link to this contribution) May I say what an honour and privilege it is, as a relatively new Member of the House, to stand at t...
Mike Penning | 476 c242 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has every right to his own views, although I happen to disagree with them. I will use...
Desmond Swayne | 476 c241 (Link to this contribution) May I ask my hon. Friend to be careful in the language that he uses? A great many euphemisms have be...
Mike Penning | 476 c241 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It appears that we may have 10 sittings on the Bill on ...
Evan Harris | 476 c251 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a thoughtful speech. The vast majority of premature births are due to mater...
John Pugh | 476 c251-2 (Link to this contribution) I have discussed clinically troubled pregnancies, and I presume that that covers the maternal factor...
Jacqui Lait | 476 c252 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has paraphrased the list that I suggested on Second Reading, because it included ...
John Pugh | 476 c252 (Link to this contribution) I do not dispute that, but one can always have exceptions to legislation. We have always set a limit...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c252-3 (Link to this contribution) Like others, I regret that this debate has been tagged on to the important and complex debates on up...
Mark Durkan | 476 c248 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady has placed a lot of emphasis on the viability test having been the basis on whic...
David Burrowes | 476 c248 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Lady give way?
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c248 (Link to this contribution) Because the 1967 Act, as amended, provided for that, and I am making my comments only with regard to...
John Pugh | 476 c249-51 (Link to this contribution) I want to make it clear, as my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) did...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c249 (Link to this contribution) With respect, I have given way quite a lot, and I need to conclude my points. I shall now turn to t...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c248 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Lady, but let me say first, Sir Michael, that I was following your sugge...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c247 (Link to this contribution) These are very serious matters. Clearly, it is entirely up to the Member who has the Floor to decide...
Iris Robinson | 476 c248 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister. May I suggest that she visit a special needs school in her constituency, where...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c248 (Link to this contribution) I did not say that, I would not say that, and the hon. Lady is trying to put words into my mouth tha...
Iris Robinson | 476 c247 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Sir Michael. Is it right for the Minister to indicate that she will not hear an...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c247 (Link to this contribution) I think that these are basically matters for debate, not matters for the Chair. I also think that al...
Ann Widdecombe | 476 c247 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Sir Michael. Is it in order for a Member, even a Minister, to deeply misreprese...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c247 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, but then I really must make some progress.
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 476 c247 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister. Is it not worth putting on record the fact that only roughly 1 per ce...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c247 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman has put the figures on the record, I shall not waste the Committee's time by r...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c246 (Link to this contribution) I will give way briefly, but then I must make progress.
Pete Wishart | 476 c246 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the Minister has seen the results of a study by the British Pregnancy Advisory Serv...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c246-7 (Link to this contribution) I have seen the results of that study, and I agree with what the hon. Gentleman has said. This is t...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c246 (Link to this contribution) No, just a minute. I was making the point that nothing has changed over that time period. The diffic...
Charles Walker | 476 c246 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Lady not accept that some children—not many, but some—born prematurely between 2...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c246 (Link to this contribution) That is not the issue that I was putting to the Committee.
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c245 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady does not need to stress her words; I can understand the word ““evidence”” whethe...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c245 (Link to this contribution) Just one moment. That was the case in 1967; it was the case in 1990; and it is certainly the case no...
Ann Widdecombe | 476 c245 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the right hon. Lady. She has said that viability is the determining factor, bu...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c244-5 (Link to this contribution) This is a very important debate, even if I have expressed views outside the House and as an individu...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c256-7 (Link to this contribution) I agree with that. At the BMA meeting, Dr. Chisholm talked about his first week as a GP, when he wen...
Martin Horwood | 476 c257 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making a powerful social case—I do not apologise for using that term—against reduci...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c255-6 (Link to this contribution) I want to make progress, because I am conscious that a number of hon. Members want to speak, includi...
Sandra Osborne | 476 c256 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the use of the term ““abortion for social reasons”” can be very unhel...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c254-5 (Link to this contribution) I do not know the exact figures, but I have no problems with that argument. Of course, many of us—no...
Ann Widdecombe | 476 c254 (Link to this contribution) As that argument has always been made, studies and evidence were sought. In the 10 years before the ...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c257 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not give way, because we have very little time left and a number of hon. Members still wi...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c257 (Link to this contribution) That brings me back to my first argument. I will not convince the hon. Gentleman; he will not convin...
William Cash | 476 c253 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady explain why more than half the doctors in the NHS refuse to carry out late aborti...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c253 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that that is not relevant to my argument, which is that different views can be put forwa...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c253 (Link to this contribution) If I may finish this part of my argument, I shall allow the hon. Lady to intervene later. We know t...
David Leslie Taylor | 476 c254 (Link to this contribution) This is the second occasion during this debate when an assertion has been made that lowering the lim...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c253-4 (Link to this contribution) May I finish my arguments? Otherwise, others will not get the chance to contribute to the debate. E...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c254 (Link to this contribution) I intend to proceed, rather than carry on with that discussion. I do not believe that hon. Members w...
Judy Mallaber | 476 c254 (Link to this contribution) A different set of arguments can probably be made about the relationship between the 24-week period ...
Mark Pritchard | 476 c258 (Link to this contribution) She's only just started—give her a chance!
Nadine Dorries | 476 c258 (Link to this contribution) Well, I definitely will not give way now. Let me give some further figures on the disability issue. ...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c258 (Link to this contribution) There are two points that I would like to clear up before I embark on my speech. The first is on the...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c259 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to reveal that to the Minister. I think that people need to know this: the baby was g...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c258 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for saying that she supports abortion. She will agree that it is a go...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c258-9 (Link to this contribution) As I have found from my research, one of the main problems is that many young women who present at a...
Evan Harris | 476 c259-60 (Link to this contribution) What the hon. Lady described on her blog as an injection of vitamin K, rather than potassium, which ...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c260 (Link to this contribution) First, I am very aware of the difference between potassium chloride and vitamin K, and I have never ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c259 (Link to this contribution) Order. These are extremely emotive issues, but I hope the House can continue in the vein that has ch...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c259 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way once to the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris).
Evan Harris | 476 c259 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady want the answer?
Nadine Dorries | 476 c259 (Link to this contribution) Professor Anand—[Hon. Members: ““No. Press on.””]—Professor Anand, who is the world—[Interruption.]
Nadine Dorries | 476 c261 (Link to this contribution) Overall, 69 per cent. of those doctors want the limit to be reduced.
Nadine Dorries | 476 c260-1 (Link to this contribution) The analysis of viability of premature births happens for a reason. Premature births may occur becau...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c191-2 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister may recall, I said that the body of evidence on that issue was not yet good enough f...
Ian Gibson | 476 c181 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Gentleman tell us what the vote was on that issue, and how it came out the way that the...
Andrew Selous | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) May I take my right hon. Friend back to his point about human rights law, which was referred to in t...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c193 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, the Bill introduces a provision to ensure that the child will have access a...
Crispin Blunt | 476 c264 (Link to this contribution) As a parent who found himself in circumstances that could have been caught by new clause 8, I find i...
Nick Palmer | 476 c264 (Link to this contribution) I want to speak about new clause 8, which is in my name and those of other Labour and Conservative M...
Tom Clarke | 476 c264-5 (Link to this contribution) I happen to believe that my hon. Friend's new clause is one of the most important measures that we a...
Nick Palmer | 476 c264 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says and I draw his attention to the contents of the proposed informa...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c263 (Link to this contribution) The Minister may have selective preferences about which lives she want to save.
David Burrowes | 476 c263 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. Yesterday, the assertion was made in the discussion about ...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c263-4 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister feels that I have said anything tonight—cited any statistic or piece of information—...
Crispin Blunt | 476 c265 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Nick Palmer | 476 c265 (Link to this contribution) I entirely accept my right hon. Friend's point. I stress that we are talking about the offer of info...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c262 (Link to this contribution) That is fine—let us talk about the Marie Stopes survey of October last year. Marie Stopes is a chari...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c262 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. She referred to a survey of 210 doctors by a subscrip...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c262 (Link to this contribution) In October 2007, Marie Stopes, one of the charities that carries out late abortions, did a poll of G...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c261 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady, but the Committee must come to order. It is entirely u...
Nadine Dorries | 476 c262-3 (Link to this contribution) We are running out of doctors who want to perform late terminations because the majority of doctors ...
Ian Gibson | 476 c262 (Link to this contribution) Where does the hon. Lady get the evidence that we are running out of doctors?
Julie Morgan | 476 c268 (Link to this contribution) I speak in support of the present abortion time limit and to oppose all the amendments to reduce it....
Mark Francois | 476 c268 (Link to this contribution) Very briefly, strong views have been expressed on both sides of the House tonight, but none of the a...
Julie Morgan | 476 c269 (Link to this contribution) I disagree with the hon. Gentleman. A number of organisations have said very clearly that viability ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c269 (Link to this contribution) Order. There is far too much conversation going on in the Committee. The hon. Lady has been waiting ...
Julie Morgan | 476 c269 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way now. The medical evidence is absolutely clear, but there is another importa...
Richard Ottaway | 476 c267-8 (Link to this contribution) I am not giving way again. If anybody wants a cure for the quiet life, I suggest that they table an...
Desmond Turner | 476 c267 (Link to this contribution) Under the Act, the concept of 24 weeks is different from that of 24 medical weeks, as recorded in me...
Richard Ottaway | 476 c266-7 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak to new clause 9, which seeks to lower to 22 weeks the threshold for terminations. Li...
Nick Palmer | 476 c265-6 (Link to this contribution) Unlike some hon. Members, I am not able to give chapter and verse from individual conversations, but...
Lord Swire | 476 c265 (Link to this contribution) Given that we are all keen to back everything that we say this evening with evidence, can the hon. G...
Richard Ottaway | 476 c267 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has made his point, but it bears no resemblance to anything that I was talking ab...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c267 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that the Committee has probably got the point.
Nick Palmer | 476 c265 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but in view of the shortage of time, I do not want to take more than one intervention pe...
Ann Widdecombe | 476 c270-1 (Link to this contribution) I cannot believe the way my hon. Friend has simply dismissed the humanity of the child. Because of t...
Edward Leigh | 476 c271 (Link to this contribution) I thank all Members who have taken part. This has been a fine, serious and good-natured debate in wh...
John Bercow | 476 c270 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to my right hon. Friend. She is concerned about humanity; so are other right...
John Bercow | 476 c270 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Ann Widdecombe | 476 c270 (Link to this contribution) We have in this country at present a situation in which it is possible for this to happen to two chi...
Julie Morgan | 476 c269-70 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Sir Alan. The moral issue is whether it is right to force a woman to carry on with a pre...
David Burrowes | 476 c201-2 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman's concerns about discrimination not be satisfied by clause 53, ““Interpreta...
Evan Harris | 476 c200-1 (Link to this contribution) There is a philosophical discussion to be had about what is the nature of illness and of treatment. ...
Evan Harris | 476 c202 (Link to this contribution) I believe that that is about birth certificates, and bringing provisions into line. The Minister has...
William Cash | 476 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman's speech with interest. Can he explain why the part of the Bill...
Evan Harris | 476 c199-200 (Link to this contribution) Doctors will have to do that, which is why the HFEA produces a code of practice. It is easy to set o...
Tony Wright | 476 c200 (Link to this contribution) One thing troubles me. The hon. Gentleman has constantly referred to the question of treatment. The ...
Evan Harris | 476 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I do not understand the hon. Gentleman's point, and I do not know which part of the...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c199 (Link to this contribution) The intention behind the amendment is to ensure that the welfare of the child, rather than the desir...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c199 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has said that those organisations want shot of the advisory provisions, but have ...
Evan Harris | 476 c199 (Link to this contribution) I will come on to the welfare of the child in a few moments, which is probably the easiest way to de...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c204 (Link to this contribution) If people suffer discrimination, usually someone somewhere is willing to speak out and say, ““I've b...
Dari Taylor | 476 c204 (Link to this contribution) This is an important point, and I wish to turn it around. I have asked such infertile women and coup...
Evan Harris | 476 c203 (Link to this contribution) I am keen to finish my speech, because others wish to speak. I have spoken to clinicians about what...
Jim McGovern | 476 c203 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Evan Harris | 476 c202-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman. I was going to give three brief examples relating to discrimination, bu...
Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 476 c202 (Link to this contribution) I merely want to confirm that the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The hon. Member for Enfield, S...
Jim McGovern | 476 c212 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Tim Loughton | 476 c212 (Link to this contribution) No, because others wish to speak. At a time when fathers are spending more time than ever with thei...
Chris Bryant | 476 c212-3 (Link to this contribution) There is a strange irony in this debate. Either the original clause in the 1990 Act has had some eff...
Dari Taylor | 476 c210 (Link to this contribution) That is the whole point. The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, because how would we take account of...
Tim Loughton | 476 c210-1 (Link to this contribution) May I make a few comments to endorse the passion that we have heard from my hon. Friend the Member f...
Tim Loughton | 476 c212 (Link to this contribution) That goes without saying, but there are many fathers who lose contact with their children unintentio...
Lord Blunkett | 476 c209 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a thoughtful and profound contribution. I do not intend to repeat the speec...
Andrew Selous | 476 c210 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady spoke of the need for a qualification. Does she accept that the amendment speaks merel...
Dari Taylor | 476 c209-10 (Link to this contribution) It might not surprise my right hon. Friend to learn that I do not agree with him. That which is appr...
Edward Leigh | 476 c227 (Link to this contribution) I hope that if we still believe strongly in the right of the people of Northern Ireland to have cont...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c227-8 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak to new clauses 7 and 1, and other clauses relating to a reduction in the limit beyond ...
Edward Leigh | 476 c226-7 (Link to this contribution) That is the hon. Lady's view. I think that everybody knows where I stand, and many people in the Cha...
Laurence Robertson | 476 c227 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will be aware that even in the United Kingdom abortion is not available on demand eve...
Edward Leigh | 476 c224-6 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Gale, it is an honour to open this debate. The only reason why new clause 1 is being considered ...
Anne Moffat | 476 c226 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talked about double standards. Is it not a double standard for him, a total anti-...
Edward Leigh | 476 c222 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c213-4 (Link to this contribution) I rise to sum up the issues before us. I will not follow on from the comments of the hon. Member for...
Iris Robinson | 476 c213 (Link to this contribution) I speak tonight saddened by the approach taken by right hon. and hon. Members who wish to airbrush o...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c204 (Link to this contribution) First, let me say that this is not a party political issue. There will be a free vote tonight, and m...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 476 c204 (Link to this contribution) I do not think any Member doubts the hon. Lady's sincerity, and when she took part in the considerat...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c205 (Link to this contribution) I am saying that, under the status quo, no one to date has come forward and said that they have been...
Stephen Williams | 476 c205 (Link to this contribution) Acts go unreported in many fields. Rape is an example; that goes unreported. The rape statistics are...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c205 (Link to this contribution) I have moved on to the issue of public consultation. The consultation made it clear that most people...
Chris Bryant | 476 c205 (Link to this contribution) I have a great deal of respect for my hon. Friend and she often speaks good common sense, but I have...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c205 (Link to this contribution) It might surprise my hon. Friend to know that I do talk to many lesbians, and quite a few of them ha...
John Bercow | 476 c205-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady said at the outset of her remarks that she accepted readily that there were plenty of ...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c206 (Link to this contribution) No, I am saying that it is common sense just to take into consideration the need for a father, and i...
Andy Slaughter | 476 c204 (Link to this contribution) I do not think any Member is going to get up and start naming names. My hon. Friend recently heard t...
Lord Cormack | 476 c208 (Link to this contribution) No, because I am conscious of the fact that I, too, wanted to get in, and that others want to follow...
Lord Cormack | 476 c207-8 (Link to this contribution) That is a most fatuous intervention. I have never heard such a ridiculous intervention from a so-cal...
Lord Cormack | 476 c208 (Link to this contribution) And sometimes by a doctor, and sometimes by a test-tube. However, I say to the hon. Gentleman and to...
Dari Taylor | 476 c208 (Link to this contribution) This is obviously a passionate debate and people have serious concerns about the outcome of the vote...
Lord Cormack | 476 c208 (Link to this contribution) Assisted, yes—assisted by a man and a woman.
Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 476 c207 (Link to this contribution) Given the logic of my hon. Friend's case, if a mother and a father had treatment, the mother became ...
Lord Cormack | 476 c206-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Geraldine Smith) speaks with a degree of refreshing can...
Angela C Smith | 476 c233 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Julie Morgan | 476 c233 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c232 (Link to this contribution) In the article referred to by the hon. Member for Gainsborough, the eminent doctor stated that no pe...
Mark Pritchard | 476 c232-3 (Link to this contribution) I rise to discuss new clause 3, but I will support any reduction in the current term limit, from 20 ...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c231 (Link to this contribution) There is a choice. Pregnancy can be diagnosed days before a woman misses her period, let alone a few...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 476 c231 (Link to this contribution) Is it not true that it is so easy to dehumanise these children—these people—because we cannot hear t...
Mark Pritchard | 476 c233 (Link to this contribution) In a moment, if I may. The hon. Lady has intervened already, and I want to give other hon. Members a...
Angela C Smith | 476 c233 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mark Pritchard | 476 c233 (Link to this contribution) I will in a moment. The Government have an important part to play. For example, they could improve ...
Nick Palmer | 476 c234 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman is assisting his argument by introducing a political elemen...
Mark Pritchard | 476 c234-5 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. I look forward to considering new clause 8, which I fully support. I was not being parti...
Mark Pritchard | 476 c235 (Link to this contribution) I am always being told off, Mr. Gale, so I shall simply add that to the list. That picture and the ...
Angela C Smith | 476 c233 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mark Pritchard | 476 c233 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give way to another hon. Member, but one or two are dominating the debate.
Julie Morgan | 476 c234 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that those who seek late abortions are often the most desperate and v...
Mark Pritchard | 476 c234 (Link to this contribution) No, I would not. The hon. Lady makes an important point, but she underlines my earlier case for bett...
Andy Reed | 476 c235 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Evan Harris | 476 c228 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady accept, first, that the existing consent forms and information sheets approved by...
Michael Jabez Foster | 476 c229 (Link to this contribution) Is it not the case that one has to have informed consent in respect of almost every profession? When...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c229 (Link to this contribution) But it does happen, does it not? When a man presents for a vasectomy at a doctor's surgery, the doct...
Angela C Smith | 476 c229 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Is she ready to acknowledge the very good work that is alread...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c230 (Link to this contribution) I have heard that argument frequently this week. Frankly, the notion that we are limiting choice by ...
Baroness Kramer | 476 c229-30 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the hon. Lady's giving way. She will be aware that the doctor is required to offer coun...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c229 (Link to this contribution) It most certainly is. I have consulted a number of my medical friends about this issue. In other pro...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c230 (Link to this contribution) I hear from a sedentary position that that is not true, but a baby who was born at 22 weeks and six ...
Jacqui Lait | 476 c230 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Lady. I do not want to trade personal cases with her, but a constitue...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c230 (Link to this contribution) I think that that was due to the timing of the tests, which might take place later in the pregnancy....
Desmond Turner | 476 c230 (Link to this contribution) It is a medical fact that it is not possible to diagnose certain foetal abnormalities until about 22...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c230 (Link to this contribution) I am most certainly aware of that because, unlike my hon. Friend, I have personally been through the...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 476 c231 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. I hope that she will agree that it is important ...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c231 (Link to this contribution) I cannot disagree with a body of evidence, but neither can I agree that abortion at 24 weeks is acce...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c231 (Link to this contribution) Order. Could I ask hon. Members to keep interventions brief? There are a huge number of Members wish...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c231 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is sitting there, and I concur with his views. [Interruption.] Well, there is dis...
John Pugh | 476 c231 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady may not know that the recent drafts of the EPICure 2 study show a difference from the ...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c237 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not give way. [Hon. Members: ““Ah.””] I will not give way—it is important to make this po...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c245-6 (Link to this contribution) No; if I can make a little progress, I will give way if I have time later. I want to be brief so tha...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c263 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has asserted many things to be facts that are not. She is entirely at liberty to make ...
Richard Ottaway | 476 c267 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, I will not give way. I want to concentrate on the definition of viability, which was we...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c166 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment No. 21, page 9, line 10, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—
Gerald Howarth | 476 c168 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether my right hon. Friend is aware of the study carried out by the Office for National S...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c168-9 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to go down that road, but I will say this as a link to the intervention of the hon. Me...
Evan Harris | 476 c168 (Link to this contribution) May I bring the right hon. Gentleman from the general to the specific? We are dealing with the duty ...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c168 (Link to this contribution) I do not consider them to be broken families. We do not have enough data to understand exactly what ...
George Howarth | 476 c167 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. I apologise for intervening so early in his speech, ...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c167-8 (Link to this contribution) It is far from rosy, and I am not trying to paint a picture in which the simple arrival of a father ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c166 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 12, page 9, line 10, after...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c166-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak to amendments Nos. 21 and 22, which are in my name and in the names of right hon. and ...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c178 (Link to this contribution) I think it is wrong to make judgments about families, and to tell one family that they are normal an...
Robert Key | 476 c180 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who was the distinguished Chairman of the Joint Committee,...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 476 c180 (Link to this contribution) Was that not the very reason why the Committee came to its conclusion regarding two supportive paren...
Robert Key | 476 c180 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and she also said:"““To my mind, it suggests that the idea that a mother and a father are both ...
Evan Harris | 476 c180 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not recognise what Professor Golombok went on to say in the same session? Sh...
Robert Key | 476 c180 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that information; the record has been put straight, and I will not go there. We a...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c179 (Link to this contribution) Order. In fairness to the hon. Lady, I should say that there is a Division in the Finance Public Bil...
Desmond Swayne | 476 c179 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend brings to our attention a remarkable piece of information, and it is a great shame th...
Robert Key | 476 c178-9 (Link to this contribution) I know that people have asked why on earth we are debating this issue, but I am very glad that we ar...
Ian Gibson | 476 c181 (Link to this contribution) It was seven votes to seven, and the Chairman's casting vote turned it the way it did.
Robert Key | 476 c181 (Link to this contribution) Off the top of my head, I cannot remember the vote, I am afraid, but I would be grateful if the hon....
Desmond Turner | 476 c182 (Link to this contribution) This is an equalities issue, whether or not anyone tries to deny that, because the provision bites o...
Robert Key | 476 c181-2 (Link to this contribution) That is a very important issue, but as far as I can see, it has nothing to do with this particular i...
Desmond Turner | 476 c182 (Link to this contribution) Okay, but the arguments have primarily been motivated by the fact that lesbian couples will want to ...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c182 (Link to this contribution) The provision does not just affect lesbians; it would also affect heterosexual single women who may ...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c181 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman therefore accept that, if single women and lesbian couples are driven away f...
Robert Key | 476 c181 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has the advantage—I cannot remember that bit of the story. However, that does not...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c181 (Link to this contribution) In that case, would the hon. Gentleman like to explain why it was necessary to amend the Human Ferti...
Robert Key | 476 c181 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister's nightmare were to come true, she would be right, but I do not believe that it is t...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c177 (Link to this contribution) I think that my hon. Friend displays a very patronising attitude towards lesbian women. I do not thi...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c176-7 (Link to this contribution) Let me finish the point first. Those people will continue to be confused and will end up believing ...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c176 (Link to this contribution) Well, that's all right, then—[Interruption.] I have already pointed out one example of overt discrim...
William Cash | 476 c175-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady might care to reflect on the fact that Parliament decides such questions. If we decide...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c175 (Link to this contribution) So, on the one hand, the Human Rights Act can deal with any problems that might arise as a result of...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c176 (Link to this contribution) The difficulty is that lesbian couples or single women who wish to have children will be influenced ...
John Bercow | 476 c176 (Link to this contribution) I personally thought that the hon. Lady provided a compelling example of discrimination and that the...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c176 (Link to this contribution) Let me finish the point, and then I will. My point is this. Frequently asked questions and the answ...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c178 (Link to this contribution) I am very glad to hear such good sense.
Lord Cormack | 476 c178 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady for her generosity in giving way. Whatever may be the case ...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c177 (Link to this contribution) It may well be the case—I certainly hope that it is—that before deciding to have children, people wi...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c177 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Lady is making a very long intervention, which is bordering on a speech. She was als...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c178 (Link to this contribution) I am very concerned about some of the comments that are being made by Conservative Members about chi...
Tim Loughton | 476 c177 (Link to this contribution) In the hon. Lady's common sense-free world, what takes precedence, the supposed right of adults to h...
Sandra Osborne | 476 c178 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that what purports to be common sense is reminiscent of the ““back to basi...
George Howarth | 476 c178 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who is being very generous in giving way. Does she accept that the ...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c173-4 (Link to this contribution) With respect, I am going to finish this. The hon. Lady may not like it, but she is going to get it. ...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c173 (Link to this contribution) I do not think it discriminatory to remind people of the importance of the role of the father. Why i...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c173 (Link to this contribution) Is there not a central contradiction in the right hon. Gentleman's argument? He began by saying that...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c173 (Link to this contribution) The more I listen to the hon. Lady, the more I am in danger of agreeing with her. I have to say that...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c172-3 (Link to this contribution) If hon. Members will allow me, I shall make a couple of minutes progress, then I promise that I shal...
Geraldine Smith | 476 c173 (Link to this contribution) To most people outside the House, the right hon. Gentleman is simply talking common sense—they must ...
Evan Harris | 476 c172 (Link to this contribution) On the European convention on human rights, the House is advised by the Joint Committee on Human Rig...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c172 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention, but I simply do not agree, and I am not alone in that—there are...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) I enjoy my hon. Friend's interventions as ever.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c175 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next hon. Member, may I gently remind hon. Members that we are in Committee...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c175 (Link to this contribution) I am concluding my speech, so if the hon. Lady will forgive me, I want to let other hon. Members get...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c175 (Link to this contribution) With respect, I did not say that it was discriminatory. I said that it was not discriminatory, and t...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c175 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to have an opportunity to answer the points made by the right hon. Member for Chingfor...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c174 (Link to this contribution) I must say to the hon. Gentleman that technology is a lovely thing, and while the hon. Member for Is...
Dari Taylor | 476 c174 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c174 (Link to this contribution) No. There might be an element of doubt, but the Government are playing absolutes over this. They sa...
Dari Taylor | 476 c174 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c174 (Link to this contribution) I want to move on to some conclusions, as I recognise that others wish to speak.
John Hemming | 476 c174 (Link to this contribution) I have found some of the evidence rather surprising, given that the Human Rights Act 1998 takes prec...
David Leslie Taylor | 476 c170 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to co-sponsor the amendment. Is it not the case that the current legal framework was fa...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c169-70 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady wants to intervene on that point, she will be able to so in a moment because I am c...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c169 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c169 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes me jump ahead of myself. I shall come back to that point in a second because I ...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c170 (Link to this contribution) I will give way shortly to the hon. Gentleman, who is easing forward on his seat. He has been active...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c170 (Link to this contribution) I agree. The Government's action is unnecessary and they have overreacted—I shall deal with that sho...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c169 (Link to this contribution) I do not believe that there is such a debate about research. The trends may or may not be ameliorate...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c169 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is making an articulate and powerful speech. Is he aware that despite the fact ...
Baroness Primarolo | 476 c169 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is making general points about single parents. Can he tell the Committee wh...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) I was coming to that, too. My hon. Friend is quite right. The point is that protection already exist...
Mark Simmonds | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way again. The hon. Member for Islington, South and...
Lord Cormack | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that a good many of us wish that the situation were as described by...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will have to wait—she has had her shot and I want to finish this point. The reality is...
Emily Thornberry | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has made that assertion in this place and elsewhere and I have therefore ca...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) That was a great try by the hon. Lady, but it does not work. I am debating what is in the Bill. The ...
Iain Duncan Smith | 476 c171 (Link to this contribution) I am going to come to that in a second.
Ann Widdecombe | 476 c238 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. The logic of her argument about restrictions bei...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c238 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way again. Restrictions may be well intended. I understand about the religious ...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c238 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way. Restrictions do not even lead to an improvement in the quality of care, an...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c238 (Link to this contribution) No, we cannot say that a child of 12 is a woman.
Chris McCafferty | 476 c238 (Link to this contribution) She could be pregnant; but I would like to think that she would not be. If we had compulsory sexual ...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c238 (Link to this contribution) Would my hon. Friend say that a child of 12 is a woman who knows her own mind and is capable of maki...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c237-8 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way. The pregnant woman is the only person who can make a responsible decision ...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c237 (Link to this contribution) No; I want to make some progress. Illegal abortion is extremely risky. It is usually performed late...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c236 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps my hon. Friend is not aware of the recent National Institute for Health and Clinical Excelle...
Michael Jabez Foster | 476 c236 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend not pursuing a false premise? No one is suggesting that the life or the health of ...
Chris McCafferty | 476 c236 (Link to this contribution) Because the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) made some political points, may I say at the...
Mark Pritchard | 476 c236 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Gale. It was a long intervention, but it was worth while, because the hon. Gentleman ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 476 c235 (Link to this contribution) Order. Again, I appeal to hon. Members to keep interventions brief. We have three Front-Bench spokes...
Andy Reed | 476 c235 (Link to this contribution) I have been sitting here throughout. Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me, as someone who was adopt...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 476 c229 (Link to this contribution) Yes, well, there are such services, of course, and I am aware of them. However, as I said earlier, I...
Subjects
Children's rights Abortion Cohabitation Absent parents Counselling Women Fertility Homosexuality Human rights Human embryo experiments Eligibility IVF Discrimination Fathers Parents Married people Single people Women's rights
Legislation
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (HL) 2007-08
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk