Proposition 51K1750

Projet de loi visant à supprimer l'alinéa 2 de l'article 9, § 2, de la loi du 11 mai 2003 relative à la recherche sur les embryons in vitro.

General information ¶

Submitted by

The Senate

Submission date

April 13, 2005

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

bio-ethics medicine genetic engineering medical research incompatibility

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR

Abstained from voting

VB

Contact form ¶

Do you have a question or request regarding this proposition? Select the most appropriate option for your request and I will get back to you shortly.

Discussion ¶

May 18, 2005 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker,

All the groups present gave the word. I put together their presentations. The speakers pointed out, among other things, the importance of the law of 11 May 2003, which allows the research on embryos to be done in vitro and yet to avoid excesses.

The speakers also point out that, as the committee referred to in Article 9 cannot be constituted, the law de facto is not applied.

It also emphasizes the need to avoid giving everything that has to do with ethics into the hands of a small group. This could give rise to a suspicion of partiality.

Several members of the committee emphasized that only a few should be allowed to sit in both the committee on bioethics and in the committee on medical and scientific research on embryos. Finally, the bill was approved unanimously on 3 May.

So far, my brief report.

I would like to emphasize again that the Embryo Act of 2003 is a very important framework law. That law permits extensive scientific research on embryos, but at the same time ensures that extractions are inhibited. For example, the law allows, among other things, scientific research on over-sized or, if really necessary, created embryos. The law also allows therapeutic cloning and stem cell research, but on the other hand very resolutely closes the door for all forms of eugenics, commercialization and reproductive cloning. According to the law, every scientific research must have a therapeutic purpose.

In Article 9, the law provides for the establishment of a federal commission for medical and scientific research on embryos in vitro. This committee must meet a number of conditions. For example, it must include 14 members and 14 additional deputy members with the same qualifications as the titulators. In addition to the required degree, there is also a strict language parity, a gender criterion, a balanced representation of the various ideological and philosophical directions and last but not least — there is a shake — the incompatibility with the capacity of a member of a bioethics advisory committee.

This last condition is too much. Until now, it has not been possible to set up this federal committee. That means that this very important framework law de facto does not start in practice. As the SP-A-Fraktion, we find these delays very regrettable. We therefore support the legislative amendment proposed here, which removes the incompatibility. It should also be noted that this has a number of precedents. I think of the Euthanasia Succession Committee, for which the incompatibility with the Bioethics Advisory Committee does not apply.

We will approve this legislative amendment with confidence.

Mr Monfils now has the word in the general discussion.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, as is a rule, I will begin by congratulating the rapporteur for her very clear report that summarizes the work carried out in the committee.

The group will vote on this proposal. It is time for it to be presented, because it must be remembered that this law allowing research on embryos dates exactly from May 11, 2003; if I am not mistaken, it is exactly two years ago. In addition, this law took a year and a half to be analyzed in the Senate, of which I was a member at that time. So it represents four years of effort – a year and a half plus two years of waiting – and it doesn’t work yet.

However, this is extremely important. I feel that the functioning of this law is so much expected by those who defend a very progressive character of research, which is my case in particular, and those who fear a little that these research will bring some problems and difficulties. They demand that the advisory committee be established and that it not only allows to give opinions on the subject, but also to examine each of the researches and to see to what extent these researches are not contrary to notions of public order, morality, and that I still know. This is extremely important in this context.

This law cannot function without commission, insofar as Article 9, §5, clearly stipulates that “the King shall fix the administrative and financial means of the commission when it is established”. No commission, no law; no law, impossibility for some as for others to follow the extremely important evolution of research on embryos which, as Ms. Jiroflée recalled, will allow extraordinary scientific advances for human beings, in the coming years.

The issue was clearly pointed out in the report of our colleague, Mr. Germaine in the Senate. Two calls for candidates were launched; in the first, there were not enough candidates and, in the second, the candidates who appeared for the special committee "Research on Embryos" were the same as those in the Bioethics Advisory Committee and should therefore have resigned from this committee.

However, we have had enormous difficulties in organizing the composition of the Bioethics Committee, which is fundamental for its extremely balanced, balanced and diverse opinions on a range of topics.

But it is enough to make a very simple addition: 43 members of the Bioethics Committee, 28 of the Commission "Research on Embryos". This means more than 70 members. It is not easy to find 70 people while keeping a balance at the level of gender, at the level of language, at the level of ideological and philosophical trends. And moreover, they must be very high-level people, which is demanded by both the Bioethics Committee and the committee referred to in the Law on Embryonic Research.

Therefore, I think that skipping incompatibility is an element of good management of this sector. Of course, to answer in plenary session some concerns – ⁇ expressed by our colleague Mr. Goutry – it is of course not a matter, by blowing up this incompatibility, to get to the point that the members of the Bioethics Committee and the members of the Commission “Research on Embryos” are identical. This is obviously to allow in some cases, when no one is found, but there is someone who agrees to fulfill both mandates, this Commission to function. Far from us the idea of saying that we will take the Bioethics Committee tomorrow and transfer it to the Embryonic Research Commission. Simply put, from the moment we find ourselves in a real asshole, to the extent that we do not have enough candidates, we will eventually need to find volunteers.

These volunteers exist because in the second call for candidates, people from the Bioethics Committee proposed themselves. This is not important in so far as, on the one hand, this commission has very concrete actions on the research carried out in this field of embryos, and on the other hand, the Bioethics Committee, by its generalist function, is responsible for fundamental reflections on this as well as on other things. This is an extraordinary analysis of the legal status of the embryo. This resulted in a presentation of three or four different positions made with very great care and very great intelligence in the search for solutions for one and for the other.

This is the situation. We are obliged to do so because we cannot do otherwise. On the other hand, it is urgent to start. The researchers themselves want guidelines. These guidelines are in this law. Let this law be applied. May everyone appreciate the control that will be done of research that will allow science to advance and eradicate a series of genetic diseases. This will be the best for our fellow citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to confirm what I have already said in the committee, namely that the proposed improvement seems to me quite justified. Therefore, I give my full support to this text.