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Good news for lesbian parents - MPs yesterday voted to allow plans to update human embryology laws to proceed to the next Parliamentary stage. Many MPS are still opposed to the bill, however, with Tories in particular opposing the new rights for lesbian parents seeking IVF treatment.

The updated laws would mean that lesbian couples and single women would no longer be discriminated against when accessing IVF treatment for not involving a father in the upbringing of their child.

Currently, doctors in the UK are required to “consider the need for a father” when deciding to approve IVF or assisted conception treatments . The updated bill would emphasise the need for ’supportive parenting’ rather than the simple need for a father.

Tory opposition

The changes are opposed by the Conservatives, who insist that lesbian couples should be blocked from having IVF treatment unless a father figure will be involved in the upbringing of the child.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said “The reference to the need for a father should be recast as ‘the need for supportive parenting and a father or a male role model’. This is not to discriminate against same-sex couples or single parents, but to ensure that the responsibility to a child is discharged.”

The BBC reports that Tory peer John Patten believes that having a father brings a range of practical and spiritual benefits to a child, including better health, education and future earning power and less chance of criminal behaviour. He said a having a father figure also provides boys with a positive role model to look up to.

Other issues in the Human Fertilisation and Embroyology Bill

The arguments over the role of fathers in the upbringing of IVF-conceived children is one of three areas of controversy to the updated bill.

The bill also discusses the legality of hybrid embryos - embryos that are a mixture of human and animal tissue, created in order to study and cure diseases - and the creation of ’saviour siblings’, the selection and development of embryos that are a tissue match for siblings with genetic disorders.

Next steps for the Bill

The bill was given its second reading by 340 votes to 78, a majority of 262 votes. The bill will now udergo detailed scrutiny, and individual components of the bill will be voted on next week.

Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs are to have a free vote on all elements of the bill. Labour MPs have been promised a free vote on some of the issues, following fears of a rebellion by Roman Catholic labour MPs.

For more on this issue, see the BBC explanation of key issues of the Human Fertilisation and Embroyology Bill.

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