Today's Really Bad Idea - British Parliamentary Edition

BBC News reports today on Britain's draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, now under consideration by a Parliamentary Committee:

Children born with the help of donated sperm or eggs should have the fact recorded on their birth certificates, a group of MPs and peers has suggested.

They say the measure would give parents an incentive to discuss the topic before children found out themselves.

... At present, a child conceived using donated sperm or eggs can grow up not knowing this fact, if his or her parents choose not to reveal it. They only gain the right to check on their parentage at the age of 18.

The committee said that this amounted to the state being party to a "lie" and called on ministers to give consideration to compelling parents to include the detail on the birth certificate.

But Liberal Democrat science spokesman Dr Evan Harris said the recommendation was a "bizarre and intrusive solution to a problem that has never been demonstrated to exist."

This proposal is indeed intrusive. It is also wholly devoid of compassion, entirely unnecessary and very likely to cause permanent emotional harm to children.

In fact, it s so ridiculous and objectionable on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin....

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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