Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I think Canadians will detect his sincere views on the matter, particularly with regard to the ethical issues which are a significant part.
The hon. member probably will know that Dr. Françoise Baylis, a member of the governing council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, shares his view. She said before a health committee that an embryo is a human being. She said it is an uncontested biological fact that an embryo is a member of the human species.
Dr. Baylis had an interesting point on which the hon. member may want to comment: the idea that there are surplus embryos from fertility clinics. She said approximately 250 embryos might be available in Canada and that only half those would survive thawing. Of the remaining 125 only 9 would be able to produce any kind of stem cell line. Less than that, approximately 5, would be able to produce the stem cell lines that are adequate for research purposes. This means 5 of 250 embryos would be acceptable for research purposes. That is only 2%.
Would the member like to comment on whether we should be going that way when so few embryos would be available for stem cell research? Some 2% of the existing stock seems a small amount to be worth going through this kind of acrimonious debate.