Commons' votes on controversial biothical issues should not be whipped
From The Times March 7, 2008
Sir, The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, having completed its third reading in the Lords, will soon enter the Commons. This Bill covers sensitive ethical questions relating to the beginning of human life and family relationships, and encompasses a range of novel issues, for example with regard to mixing human and non-human gametes. There is a significant diversity of moral and religious views on such issues outside and inside Parliament.
When the original Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 was put before Parliament, MPs were allowed a free vote on amendments, without the government whip, even though it was a government-sponsored Bill. However, the present Government has already whipped the Bill through the Lords and seems intent on doing the same in the Commons. We the undersigned do not hold a single common view on the substantive proposals in the present Bill. We do, however, hold a common view that the Government and the other political parties should not erode the precedent of a "conscience vote" on controversial bioethical legislation. Votes on amendments to this Bill should not be whipped.
Professor David Albert Jones
Professor of Bioethics
St Mary's University College, Twickenham
Professor Brenda Almond
Professor (Emerita) of Moral and Social Philosophy
University of Hull
Professor Robin Attfield
Professor of Philosophy
Cardiff University
Professor B. Anthony Bell
Professor of Neurosurgery
St George's, University of London
Professor Nigel Biggar
Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology
University of Oxford
Professor Margaret Brazier
Professor of Law
University of Manchester
Professor John Hedley Brooke
Andreas Idreos Professor (Emeritus) of Science and Religion
University of Oxford
Professor Peter Brunt
Clinical Professor (Emeritus)
University of Aberdeen
Professor John Bryant
Professor (Emeritus) of Biological Sciences
University of Exeter
Professor John Campbell
Professor of General Practice and Primary Care
Peninsula Medical School
Professor Peter Campion
Professor of Primary Care Medicine
University of Hull
Professor Alan Carter
Professor of Moral Philosophy
University of Glasgow
Professor Ruth Chadwick
Distinguished Research Professor and Director Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics
Cardiff University
Professor Stephen Clark
Professor of Philosophy
University of Liverpool
Professor Angus Clarke
Consultant and Professor in Clinical Genetics
Institute of Medical Genetics, Cardiff University
Professor Chris Cook
Professorial Research Fellow, Durham University
Professor (Emeritus) of the Psychiatry of Alcohol Misuse, University of Kent
Professor John Cottingham
Professor of Philosophy
University of Reading
Professor Helen Cowie
Professor of Mental Health and Youth
University of Surrey
Professor Celia Deane-Drummond
Professor of Theology and the Biological Sciences and Director of the Centre for Religion and the Biosciences
University of Chester
Professor Donna Dickenson
Professor (Emerita) of Medical Ethics and Humanities
University of London
Professor Eamon Duffy
Professor of the History of Christianity
University of Cambridge
Professor Timothy Endicott
Professor of Legal Philosophy
University of Oxford
Professor Edward Evans
Professor (Emeritus) MacKay Institute of Communication and Neuroscience
University of Keele
Professor Martyn Evans
Professor of Humanities in Medicine
Durham University
John Feehally
Professor of Renal Medicine
University of Leicester
Professor Alison Fiander
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Cardiff University
Professor John Finnis
Professor of Law and Legal Philosophy
University of Oxford
Professor David Ford
Regius Professor of Divinity
University of Cambridge
Professor Allen Foster
Professor of International Eye Health
London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Keith Fox
Professor of Biochemistry
University of Southampton
Professor Frank Furedi
Professor of Sociology
The University of Kent
Professor Raimond Gaita
Professor of Moral Philosophy
King's College London
Professor Hill Gaston
Professor of Rheumatology
University of Cambridge
Professor Robin Gill
Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology
University of Kent
Professor Jonathan Glover
Professor of Ethics and Director of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics
King's College London
Professor Timothy Gorringe
Professor of Theological Studies
University of Exeter
Professor Mary Grey
Professor (Emerita) of Theology, University of Wales, Lampeter
Professorial Research Fellow, St Mary's University College, Twickenham
Professor Gedis Grudzinskas
Professor (Emeritus) of Gynaecology
Bart's and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry
John Guillebaud
Professor (Emeritus) of Family Planning and Reproductive Health
University College London
Professor John Haldane
Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs
University of St Andrews
Professor Andrew Halestrap
Professor of Biochemistry
University of Bristol
Professor Glynn Harrison
Norah Cooke Hurle
Professor of Mental Health and Consultant Psychiatrist
University of Bristol
Professor Peter Harrison
Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion
University of Oxford
Professor David Hatch
Professor (Emeritus) of Anaesthesia
Institute of Child Health, University of London
Professor Soren Holm
Professorial Fellow in Bioethics
Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University
Professor Mike Horan
Professor of Geriatric Medicine
University of Manchester
Professor Colin Humphreys
Goldsmiths' Professor of Materials Science, Cambridge University
Professor of Experimental Physics, Royal Institution, London
Professor Geoffrey Hunt
Professor of Ethics
University of Surrey
Professor David Katz
Professor of Immunopathology
University College London
Professor John Keown
Professor of Christian Ethics
Georgetown University, Washington
Professor Gordon Johnson
Professor (Emeritus) of Preventive Ophthalmology
University College London
Professor Michael Keighley
Professor (Emeritus) of Surgery
University of Birmingham
Professor Graeme Laurie
Professor of Medical Jurisprudence
University of Edinburgh
Professor Christopher Lavy
Professor (Hon) University of Oxford
Professor (Hon) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Robert Lee
Professor of Law and Co-Director ESRC Research Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society
Cardiff University
Professor Ian Leigh
Professor of Law
Durham University
Professor Sam Leinster
Dean, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice
University of East Anglia
Professor John Lennard-Jones
Professor (Emeritus) of Gastroenterology
University of London
Professor Linda Luxon
Professor of Audiological Medicine
University College London
Professor Frances Mair
Professor of Primary Care Research
University of Glasgow
Professor J. Kenyon Mason
Professor (Emeritus) of Forensic Medicine
University of Edinburgh
Professor Jean McHale
Professor of Law
University of Leicester
Professor John Milbank
Professor in Religion, Politics and Ethics
University of Nottingham
Professor Malcolm Molyneux
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
University of Liverpool
Professor John Warwick Montgomery
Professor (Emeritus) of Law and Humanities
University of Bedfordshire
Professor Adrian Moore
Professor of Philosophy
University of Oxford
Professor Robert Moots
Professor of Rheumatology
University of Liverpool
Professor Linda Morgan
Professor of Nutritional Endocrinology
University of Surrey
Professor Patrick Morrison
Professor (Hon) of Human Genetics
Queens University, Belfast
Professor David Morton
Professor of Biomedical Science and Ethics
University of Birmingham
Professor Scott Murray
Professor of Primary Palliative Care
University of Edinburgh
Professor Norman Nevin
Professor (Emeritus) of Medical Genetics
Queen’s University, Belfast
Professor Christopher Norris
Distinguished Research Professor in Philosophy
Cardiff University
Professor Michael Northcott
Professor of Ethics
University of Edinburgh
Professor Gerald O’Collins
Professor (Emeritus) of Theology, Gregorian University, Rome
Research Professor, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham
Professor Oliver O’Donovan
Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology
University of Edinburgh
Professor Dennis O'Keeffe
Research Professor in Education
University of Buckingham
Professor Thomas O'Loughlin
Professor of Historical Theology
University of Wales, Lampeter
Professor Onora O’Neill
Professor of Philosophy
University of Cambridge
Professor Eldryd Parry
Professor (Hon) of Medicine
London School of Tropical Medicine
Professor David Paton
Chair of Industrial Economics
Nottingham University
Professor Joe Perry
Visiting Professor of Biometry
University of Greenwich
Professor John Polkinghorne
Professor (Emeritus) in Mathematical Physics
University of Cambridge
Professor Ben Quash
Professor of Christianity and the Arts
King's College London
Professor Margaret Rayman
Professor of Nutritional Medicine
University of Surrey
Professor David Robertson
Professor of Politics
University of Oxford
Professor Hilary Rose
Professor (Emerita) of Social Policy, University of Bradford
Professor (Emerita) of Physic Gresham College, London
Professor Steven Rose
Professor of Biology, The Open University
Professor of Physic, Gresham College, London
Professor Philip Routledge
Professor of Clinical Pharmacology
Cardiff University
Professor Christopher Salisbury
Professor of Primary Health Care
University of Bristol
Professor Jane Sandall
Professor of Midwifery and Women's Health
King's College London
Professor Neil Scolding
Burden Professor and Director of the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences
University of Bristol
Professor Sally Sheldon
Professor of Law
University of Kent
Professor Gordon Stirrat
Professor (Emeritus) of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
University of Bristol
Professor Roger Sturrock
Mcleod Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology
University of Glasgow
Professor Christopher Summerton
Professor (Hon) Salford University
Consultant in Gastroenterology and General Medicine, Trafford General Hospital, Manchester
Professor Deborah Symmons
Professor of Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Epidemiology
University of Manchester
Professor Rodney Taylor
Professor (Emeritus) of Naval Medicine
Royal College of Physicians of London
Professor Roger Trigg
Professor (Emeritus) of Philosophy, University of Warwick
Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford
Professor Duncan Vere
Professor (Emeritus) of Therapeutics
The London Hospital Medical College
Professor Angela Vincent
University Professor of Neuroimmunology
University of Oxford
Professor Richard Vincent
Professor of Medicine, and Associate Dean, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
University of Brighton
William Wallace
Professor (Emeritus) of Applied Physiology
Queen’s University, Belfast
Professor Keith Ward
Regius Professor (Emeritus) of Divinity, University of Oxford
Gresham Professor of Divinity, Gresham College, London
Professor Robert White
Professor of Geophysics
University of Cambridge
Professor Carl Whitehouse
Professor (Emeritus) of Teaching Medicine in the Community
University of Manchester
Professor Jonathan Wolff
Professor and Head of Philosophy Department
University College London
Professor John Wyatt
Professor of Neonatology and Ethics
University College London