by Evan Borman

Created on: May 31, 2007   Last Updated: June 04, 2007

Bill C-13

Events in life define both past and present and can present mankind with joy, grief, and knowledge. In history there were many events that people viewed as mistakes that should have been accomplished differently to better lives everywhere or just the individual person themselves. For many, choosing an event to change however they wished would most likely be a war or an election that has affected the world in one way or another. However, I would like to change a recent event that has affected the nation that I reside in. The event that I speak of was the passing of Bill C-13, specifically the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, by the government of Canada.

For a brief summary, this bill defines what is legal and illegal concerning reproductive technologies in Canada and how they should be regulated. Some examples of what is not allowed are making clones of people, cloning stem cells, making changes to human DNA that would pass from one generation to the next, and creating people who have animal DNA. Some of these prohibitions I understand and accept; however, there are some that I do not agree with and would like to change.

Firstly, the bill states that "germ-line genetic alteration" (Bill C-13, clause 5(1) (f)) is illegal which prevents a healthier society from emerging. This clause prevents science from curing genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia and haemophilia that are hereditarily obtained. This clause is seemingly spawned for fear of a Gattaca-like society emerging with parents changing their child's appearance as they see fit. This can be overcome with just one sentence placed in the bill, for example: "germ-line genetic alteration is permitted only for the purpose of deleting hereditary diseases". This demonstrates how exceptionally easy it is to amend the bill for the better of all Canadians.

Secondly, the bill states that it is illegal for "reproductive and therapeutic human cloning" (clause 5(1) (a)) to occur. This causes the cloning of stem cells to be illegal and is another issue that should be amended. Stem cells are the future in medicine due to their unique properties of growing into specified cell types such as neurons and heart cells. These cells would enable people to live far longer than usual and would allow for a stronger, more knowledgeable society to emerge. Stem cells can also grant people a second chance in life. For example, stem cells could heal spinal cord injuries, thus allowing someone the ability to walk again. What is wrong about something that can bring unimaginable happiness to another being?

Bill C-13 is only delaying the inevitable advancements in medicine as science continues to dominate the world, so what is the point of impeding people to a greater happiness? Governments only see the negative aspects of an issue and rarely take the time to make the negative aspects become insignificant to allow the positive aspects to come forth; this is a task for the people of the nation.

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