§ Mr. John Evans (St. Helens, North)I have the honour to present a petition signed by 2,962 residents of my constituency who are responding to the Government's invitation to the general public to comment on the report of the Warnock committee. They state:
Wherefore Your Petitioners Pray that the House of Commons will take immediate steps to enact legislation which forbids any procedure which involves purchase or sale of human embryos, the discarding of human embryos, their use as sources of transplant tissue or as subjects for research or experiment (unless this is done solely for the benefit of the embryo concerned.)And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray etc.
§ To lie upon the Table.
§ Mr. Harry Greenway (Ealing, North)I beg leave to present a petition in the name of the Rev. Mitchell Williams of The Manse, Eastcote Lane, Northolt, Middlesex, and a substantial number of constituents of Ealing, North which is similar to that presented by the hon. Member for St. Helens, North (Mr. Evans). For the convenience of the House, I shall summarise.
The petitioners assert that human life exists from the moment of conception, that man is made in the image of God, that life is therefore totally sacred and not be violated at any stage by law or by any other enactment of this House or anywhere else. I strongly support my constituents in that view.
I shall repeat, because it is so important, the final part of the petition about which the House has already heard from the hon. Member for St. Helens, North:
Wherefore Your Petitioners Pray that the House of Commons will take immediate steps to enact legislation which forbids any 526 procedure which involves purchase or sale of human embryos, the discarding of human embryos, their use as sources of transplant tissue or as subjects for research or experiment (unless this is done solely for the benefit of the embryo concerned.)And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray etc.
§ To lie upon the Table.
§ Later—
§ Mrs. Elizabeth Peacock (Batley and Spen)I beg leave to present a petition to the House on behalf of 50 of my constituents. It follows the lines of those presented earlier. That being so, I shall merely reiterate the important part of it:
Wherefore Your Petitioners Pray that the House of Commons will take immediate steps to enact legislation which forbids any procedure which involves purchase or sale of human embryos, the discarding of human embryos, their use as sources of transplant tissue or as subjects for research or experiment (unless this is done solely for the benefit of the embryo concerned).And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
§ To lie upon the Table.
§ Mr. Roger Gale (Thanet, North)I have the honour to present a petition on behalf of Mrs. Chapman, of Avenue gardens, Cliftonville, Mrs Sinclair, of Thanet road, Margate, and 256 of my constituents in Cliftonville, Margate, Westbrook, Garlinge, Westgate on Sea and Birchington.
Not wishing to pre-empt this morning's debate, I simply say that the petition is similar in vein to others already presented. My petitioners
welcome the statement in the report of the committee of inquiry into human fertilisation and embryology (the Warnock report) that 'the status of the embryo is a matter of fundamental principle which should be enshrined in legislation' and its recommendation that the embryo of the human species should be afforded protection in law.It has my fullest support.
§ To lie upon the Table.
§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield)I have pleasure in presenting to the House a petition entitled
Petition for the protection of the human embryo,which has been presented to me by, and which I present to the House on behalf of, a substantial number of residents of the villages of Alderley Edge, Chelford, Capesthorne, Nether Alderley and Over Alderley in the Macclesfield constituency, which I have had the honour to represent in the House for 13 years.My constituents feel very strongly about the Warnock report. They affirm that the newly fertilised human embryo is a real, individual human being and therefore they oppose all such practices as are recommended in the report which discriminate against the embryo or violate his or her human dignity and right of life.
Wherefore Your Petitioners Pray that the House of Commons will take immediate steps to enact legislation which forbids any procedure which involves the purchase or sale of human embryos, the discarding of human embryos, their use as sources of transplant tissue or as subjects for research or experiment (unless this is done solely for the benefit of the embryo concerned).And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
§ To lie upon the Table.