Lockhart Deputy Chair to outline stem cell review with supporting Bill in Parliament
Media Release, Wednesday 27 September 2006
A full update on the Lockhart Committee’s review into stem cell research will be provided by Professor Loane Skene, Deputy Chair of the Lockhart Committee and Medical Law expert at the University of Melbourne, today at the University’s Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute.
The presentation comes a day after Senator Kay Patterson tabled a Bill in Parliament calling for the implementation of the Lockhart Committee’s findings.
Professor Skene says the Committee stands by its review “100 per cent” almost a year after the report was completed.
“All members of the Committee have closely followed developments in embryonic research, press reports, public debate and political discussion over the last year and our views and recommendations remain the same as in our report,” she says.
Professor Skene says that “cloning” has been a constant source of conjecture in the stem cell debate, but that the Lockhart Committee would maintain a legal ban on human cloning, human-animal hybrid cloning and the selling of eggs.
“Since the report was published subsequent polls have shown that the majority of the public supports embryonic stem cell research with the appropriate limitations outlined in our Review.”
She also notes that the Mathews Pegg Consulting Report – commissioned by the Government and concluding that the “state of play” hasn’t changed sufficiently since 2002 to warrant amending legislation – used narrower terms of reference than the Lockhart Committee’s report.
“We held public meetings in the capitals of all states and territories and received more than 1,000 submissions,” Professor Skene says.
Professor Skene will be available for interview before 11:30 and following her presentation at 1:30pm.
***WHAT: Professor Loane Skene, Deputy Chair of the Lockhart Committee and expert in law and ethics at the University of Melbourne, discussing the Lockhart Committee report and recent stem cell debates
***WHERE: The University of Melbourne’s Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, 30 Flemington Road Parkville.
***WHEN: 12:30-1:30pm, Wednesday 27 September.
For more information:
Professor Loane Skene
Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne
Tel: 03 8344 4858
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