Protect Access to Fertility Treatment

chutzpahMon 19/05/08 11:47

From my work LGBT Staff Network:

Dear friends,

VERY URGENT CALL FOR ACTION!

MPs will vote on Tuesday on proposed amendments which would restrict women couples' access to fertility treatment. There is a big campaign going on to persuade MPs to vote for the amendments, involving some Catholic Church leaders in Scotland, and others.

It is vital that we oppose these amendments, which would write into the law on fertility treatment that children need both a father and a mother.

Please contact your MP, today or over the weekend, to ask them to vote against the amendments to clauses 14 and 23 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill on Tuesday.

Contacting your MP is easy – at the end of this email we say how to do it.

You might want to include in your message one or two of the following points – but please use your own words!

• The Civil Partnership Act and adoption legislation has introduced equality for same-sex couples and their families. Parliament should not be going backwards now and reintroducing discrimination.

• The law should be based on evidence. The research evidence shows that same-sex couples are just as good at parenting as mixed-sex couples, and their children do just as well. Supportive, loving and good parenting is what matters, not the parents' gender.

• These amendments will restrict women couples' access to treatment at fertility clinics. Parliament should support the availability of professional fertility help. It has better medical and legal safeguards than do-it-yourself donor insemination, and DIY methods do not work for all couples.

• If you can say something about your or your friends' experience of same-sex couples being parents, that would be great.

Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in contacting their MP.

How to contact your MP

Click on the link below and enter your postcode in the box on the right of the web page that appears. You will get a page giving email and phone details for your MP.

You can click on the email link to send an email, or phone your MP's office today or on Monday to leave a message asking them to vote against the amendments to clauses 14 and 23 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill on Tuesday.

Here's the link:

www.parliament.uk/about/how/members/mps_contact.cfm

chutzpahMon 19/05/08 11:49

And for a bit more information:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/13/stemcells.medicalresearch?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

tavdyMon 19/05/08 12:45

The argument that Cameron is using is one that could be used to prevent same-sex couples from adopting - which is (obviously) far more of an issue for gay men than gay women.

It's probably worth quoting the American Psychiatric Association's statement on gay parenting - I certainly can't think of a better source for quotes, since it refers to 20 peer-reviewed studies and is a respected and significant scientific & medical institution. The statement can be found at http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/policy/parents.html

tavdyMon 19/05/08 13:43

This is the email I've sent - if you want to use bits feel free:

quoting > "Dear Mr. Hall,

I write concerning the upcoming vote on amendments to clauses 14 and 23 of the above Bill which, if passed, would effectively bar lesbian couples from accessing fertility treatment. I urge you to vote against these amendments.

The amendments would limit lesbians' rights to procreation, and force those who wish to carry a child to term to resort to other, frequently riskier methods which some women consider degrading. The process of IVF is not an easy one, and to choose it clearly indicates determination and dedication to the responsibilities that come with being a mother - irrespective of sexuality. In addition, IVF may in some cases be the only viable method for conception - lesbians are just as liable to the same fertility problems as heterosexual women - and to deny any woman the right to IVF on the grounds of her sexuality would deny her the ability to bear a child and, with her partner, raise a family - as is the right of all adults under Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The major argument Andrew Lansley has used in support of the amendments - that a male role-model is required for a child to have a healthy childhood - has been disproven through a series of studies stretching back over several decades, and has been publicly denounced by the American Psychiatric Association in their Policy Statement on Sexual Orientation, Parents, & Children. I recommend you read it if you have not already done so: http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/policy/parents.html

Over the last few years the current government has passed a series of Acts, such as the Civil Partnership Act, which have collectively banned discrimination against same-sex couples who wish to adopt. For the government to then bar lesbians from IVF, while simultaneously providing adoption rights to same-sex couples, would show inconsistency."