ABSTRACT
The question as to whether or not we should experiment on embryos won’t go away. At the time of writing this essay it has just been asked for a third time by the government. On the first occasion the government commissioned the Warnock Committee to provide an answer. This answer was duly provided in July 19841 and has been hotly debated ever since. The question was re-posed by the Department of Health and Social Security in the form of a consultation paper published in December 1986, and for the third time in the draft ‘alternative’ clauses in the government’s White Paper published in November 1987.2
Even when we do finally have legislation the debate will continue, for this is not the sort of question that is susceptible of a final answer. The reasons why this is so will be one of the conclusions of this chapter. First, however, it is as well to be clear about two issues. They are: what is meant by ‘experimenting’ on embryos and why is such experimentation thought desirable?
