§ Mr. Russell Johnston (Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber)With your permission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and that of the House, I beg to ask leave to present a petition entitled
Petition for the Protection of the Human Embryothat has been signed by 1,589 of my constituents in Inverness, Carrbridge, Tomatin, Farr, Croy, Fort William, Kinlochleven, Wester Lochaber and Ardnamurchan, mainly from church congregations of the Free Presbyterian, Free Church, Church of Scotland and the Baptist persuasion, but also from other denominations and the general public.The essence of the petition, which is in the same form as others that have been presented, is the assertion that the human embryo has a right of protection of the same kind as is afforded to a developed human being.
The petition concludes:
Wherefore your petitioners pray that the House of Commons will take immediate steps to enact legislation which forbids any procedure that 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 … And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.I beg to ask leave to present the petition.
§ To lie upon the Table.