Brown criticised over embryo bill
The leader of the Catholic church in Scotland has urged Gordon Brown to rethink "monstrous" plans to allow hybrid human-animal embryos.
C  ardinal Keith O'Brien will use his Easter Sunday sermon to launch a scathing attack on the prime minister over the controversial proposals. |He will also criticise Mr Brown for not allowing Labour MPs a free vote on the issue at Westminster. Mr Brown has said the bill would improve research into many illnesses.
Supporters of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill believe hybrid embryos could lead to cures for diseases including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Brown said: "This is an important Bill that improves the facilities for research and is vital for dealing with life-threatening diseases."
We are about to have a public government endorsement of experiments of Frankenstein proportion
But in his sermon, which was released on Friday, Cardinal O'Brien claims that the Bill would lead to the endorsement of experiments of "Frankenstein proportion".
He will say: "This Bill represents a monstrous attack on human rights, human dignity and human life.
"In some European countries one could be jailed for doing what we intend to make legal.
"I can say that the government has no mandate for these changes: they were not in any election manifesto, nor do they enjoy widespread public support." The Cardinal will describe the practice as "grotesque" and "hideous". He will add: "One might say that in our country we are about to have a public government endorsement of experiments of Frankenstein proportion - without many people really being aware of what is going on." Cardinal O'Brien goes on to call for the establishment of a "single permanent national bioethics commission". He has written to Mr Brown to tell him that this would be the only way in which the issue can be "adequately discussed".
By courtesy of BBC News
| 