Media Release 1 April 2023
Every child has a right to be conceived in its Mother’s womb. Every child has a right not to be frozen and stored. Every child has a right to life and a right not to be experimented on.
Right to Life is opposed to the proposals of the government’s Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology. [ACART] and made a substantial written submission in defence of the right to life of the human embryo and opposing the proposals that were listed in a public discussion document seeking support. The discussion document that invited submissions closed on 31st March 2023 sought support to allow:-
Research entailing the destruction of viable human embryos and human embryos created specifically for research
Research on cloned and human-hybrid embryos and other currently unethical reproductive research.
New Zealand researchers are concerned that ethical restrictions imposed are impeding research in New Zealand on human embryos. ACART believes that these restrictions should be changed to allow researchers greater access to human embryos, which they see as a valuable resource for research.
Human life begins at conception and every human being is an unrepeatable miracle of God’s loving creation that deserves our respect and protection.
There are currently more than 15,000 human embryos frozen in liquid nitrogen and in storage in six IVF clinics in New Zealand. They may be stored for up to 10 years and if not used or donated to another family, are destroyed. A third of the embryos are being stored for lesbian couples. Right to Life believes that the storage and im