Catholic and Anglican church leaders oppose ‘three parent babies’

On Tuesday 3 February, MPs will vote to amend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. BothCatholic and Anglican church leaders have expressed their grave concern over Mitochondrial Donation.

Bishop John Sherrington, from the Bishops Conference department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship, said in a statement:

"Many people are rightly concerned about the profound implications of Parliament passing regulations under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act to licence the creation of human embryos using the DNA of three people. These are regulations for the transfer of 'nuclear DNA' into an egg or an embryo to modify its genetic identity. No other country has allowed this procedure and the international scientific community is not convinced that the procedure is safe and effective. It seems extraordinary that a licence should be sought for a radical new technique affecting future generations without first conducting a clinical trial. There are also serious ethical objections to this procedure which involves the destruction of human embryos as part of the process. The human embryo is a new human life, and it should be respected and protected from the moment of conception. This is a very serious step which Parliament should not rush into taking. Bishop John SherringtonDepartment for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship."

The Rev Dr Brendan McCarthy, the Church of England's national adviser on medical ethics, said: "The Church of England is aware of the complex ethical issues raised over the possibility of mitochondrial replacement therapy and the extensive scientific research that has been carried out in this field over the years.

"Changing the human germline represents an ethical watershed; it is right to be cautious, requiring a comprehensive debate and degree of consensus with regard to the ethics, safety and efficacy of these techniques before any change to the current provisions are made.

"We accept in certain circumstances that embryo research is permissible as long as it is undertaken to alleviate human suffering and embryos are treated with respect. We have great sympathy for families affected by mitochondrial disease and are not opposed in principle to mitochondrial replacement.

"A wide number of questions remain to be answered before it would be wise to proceed. For example, the two proposed techniques involved in MRT are not ethically identical - little debate has been given to this. The Church has participated in the debate at every stage, making submissions to consultations run by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the HFEA and the Department of Health as well as participating in relevant seminars and workshops.

"Our view, however, remains that we believe that the law should not be changed until there has been further scientific study and informed debate into the ethics, safety and efficacy of mitochondrial replacement therapy." A briefing note by the Anscombe Bioethics Centre on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 What the regulations permit

The regulations are entitled mitochondrial donation but the processes they permit (Regulations 4 and 7) are the removal and insertion of nuclear DNA out of and into an egg or an embryo. Note also that these techniques would not treat mitochondrial disease in any existing person but aim to produce children who are genetically related to the birth mother but free of her inherited condition.

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Catholic and Anglican church leaders oppose 'three parent babies'