Bill C-13 Long Overdue

News coverage shows that Bill C-13, The Assisted Human Reproduction Act, is
awaiting a 3rd reading in Parliament, but media reports this week suggest
that the Bill may not come to a vote before the House rises for the summer
break. If true, this will be a further, and inexcusable, set-back for women
’s and children’s health. It is essential for the health of women and
children that Bill C-13 pass.

The Canadian Women’s Health Network, and the individual women and women's
groups we represent, have worked hard for years to get legislation to ensure
that practices repugnant to Canadians are prohibited, and that procedures
used to treat infertility are managed to ensure their safety and efficacy.
Bill C-13 is a long overdue step in this direction.

Bill C-13 prohibits human cloning, payment for egg and sperm donors and
payment for surrogacy arrangements; the bill would also establish a
regulatory agency to monitor the ways in which scientists and clinicians use
human reproductive materials.

It is essential that Bill C-13 be passed now. This bill sets out principles
and procedures that can begin to bring some control on processes that are
commercializing human reproduction, processes now almost completely
unregulated.

Canadians have been waiting more than fifteen years for this legislation;
and it has already been more than ten years since a Royal Commission
recommended that such controls be put in place. Indeed, public polling data
have shown that many Canadians actually believe that legislation is already
in place, given the sensitivities of the issues with which this legislation
deals.

Passage of Bill C-13 is urgent. If MPs fail to take this necessary first
step to protect the wellbeing of children and women, to avoid
commercialization of human reproduction, to prohibit practices generally
condemned worldwide, and to create an agency that will provide transparent
and conflict-of-interest free regulation of reproductive technologies, they
will have failed in their responsibilities to Canadian citizens.
We fear it is “now or never," and we have waited long enough.

Sincerely,
Madeline Boscoe, Executive Director
Canadian Women’s Health Network
www.cwhn.ca
and Abby Lippman, PhD
Prof. of Epidemiology, McGill University
and Co-Chair, Canadian Women’s Health Network


Mona Dupré-Ollinik, BSW, BA
Coordonatrice de liaison/Outreach Coordinator
Canadian Women's Health Network/Réseau canadien pour la santé des femmes
419, avenue Graham, Suite 203
Winnipeg (MB) R3C 0M3

Tel: (204) 942-5500 ext,/poste 13
Fax/Télécopieur: (204) 989-2355
Toll free/Numéro sans frais: 1-888-818-9172
www.cwhn.ca
e-mail/courriel: [log in to unmask]

TTY 204-942-2806
TTY toll free number 1-866-694-6367

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