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British Muslims fully support Catholic leaders in their opposition to the Embryo Bill

A joint statement signed by the Islamic Medical Association (IMA), Muslim Doctors Association (MDA), Islamic Medical Ethics Forum (IMEF) and the Union of Muslim Organisations (UMO) shows strong Muslim opposition to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. The statement was released on March 25 2008 and reads as follows:

"Muslims, as well as many Christians, MPs, doctors and parents, are very concerned about the new EMBRYO BILL, which will shortly be voted on in the House of Commons.

The bill, called The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, will if enacted allow for many immoral, inhumane and undesirable procedures and outcomes.

Effects of the bill in summary:

• The main effect of the bill is to extend the power of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to authorise procedures that will harm or kill embryos created in the laboratory.
• It proposes to sanction new abuses of human embryos.
• The bill extends the ways in which embryos can be artificially created and manipulated – including hybrid (animal-human) embryos, genetic manipulation, etc.
• The bill is designed to make it easier to change the law in future to extend objectionable procedures like cloning.

If passed into law the bill would;

• Allow the production of a Hybrid, a new interspecies embryo for experimentation. This is blasphemous in Islam. It is 'monstrous' and is opposed by all believers in GOD, the only Creator, the only Designer. The unique divine process of fertilisation and human creation is SACRED and can not be used or changed for any reason. It is against the dignity of man, as stated by the Cardinal Keith O'Brien. GOD Almighty has chosen man above all the creation.
• Weaken the stress on the welfare of the IVF child, with the removal of the requirement to consider the child's need for a father.
• Undermine marriage and family values.
• Destroy a large number of embryos.
• Discriminate against embryos with some disabilities.
• Allow couples who have a disabled child undergo IVF in the hope of producing a baby (saviour sibling) who can be used as a tissue donor to treat the older sibling. Whatever the motivation of parents, this usually entails discarding and destroying many embryos.
• Extend the general scope of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), regarding it not only as a treatment for infertile couples, but for others who demand their purported “right” to have a child. (IVF is already allowed, of course, for people who want to fit childbearing around other lifestyle choices – career or relationships: the changes in the bill mean this could become much more common.)
• Allow the use of people's cells to "create" embryos without consent. The requirement of the existing embryology law for consent before gametes are taken from a person is weakened in the bill. It will become permissible in certain circumstances for the gametes (sperm and eggs) of children and those who are unconscious to be extracted without their consent having been given. Such proposals weaken the principle of consent, which was given strong emphasis in the original embryo legislation in 1990.

For the last few months, Muslims and mosques in Britain have been writing to both Members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, requesting them to oppose this bill as it is:

• Unethical, inhumane, immoral and against GOD and all the Holy Scriptures.
• Dangerous, as it undermines marriage and family values and deprives the innocent child from a father.
• Misleading to the public... as there is no evidence that embryonic stem cell research is going to help in the cure of any diseases.

Unfortunately spokesmen from the Government and from the media, who support the bill, have been holding up the hope of embryonic stem cell research finding a cure or a treatment for many serious diseases as a reason for passing the bill. In reality this is not based on any fact or evidence.

We all are in favour of medical research, which can find treatments and cures for diseases and conditions, however, this research must be ethical, humane, safe, moral and effective and blessed by GOD the Creator. This bill is none of these.

Today we have an ethical and effective alternative: research using adult stem cells. These are "created" from cells taken from the patient or from placenta or cord blood, not from embryos. The taking of these "adult" cells does not cause the death of an embryo in order to do medical research to find treatments or the cures for diseases . This method does not undermines human dignity and does not abuse the sacredness of human creation. Muslims believe that for every disease there is a cure which is ethical, safe and effective, but unfortunately many doctors and scientists are not moving in the right direction!

Finally, British Muslims fully support the Catholic Leaders, Ministers and MPs in their opposition to this, the worst Bill in the history of Britain, they will continue with their letter campaign to the MPs in order to oppose this inhumane, destructive and immoral bill.

This bill should not have been presented to Parliament in the first place, however the least we can do now is to demand a free vote on the whole of this bill for all MPs."

For further information:

Steven Fouch (CMF Head of Communications) 020 7234 9668

Media Enquiries:

Alistair Thompson on 07970 162 225

About CMF:

Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) was founded in 1949 and is an interdenominational organisation with over 5,000 doctors, 900medical and nursing students and 300 nurses and midwives as members in all branches of medicine, nursing and midwifery. A registered charity, it is linked to over 100 similar bodies in other countries throughout the world.

CMF exists to unite Christian healthcare professionals to pursue the highest ethical standards in Christian and professional life and to increase faith in Christ and acceptance of his ethical teaching.