The End of the HFEA: Are We Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater?
Monday January 17th 2011 at 18:30

Progress Educational Trust
Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG, UK
17 January 2011 - 6.30pm-8.30pm

An evening debate at the Royal Society organised by the Progress Educational Trust (PET), supported by the Anne McLaren Memorial Fund.

When the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 was introduced, there was much public debate about hybrid embryos. During the drafting of the Act, there was also debate about the creation of a different sort of chimera – the Regulatory Authority for Tissue and Embryology (RATE), a proposed amalgamation of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the Human Tissue Authority.

The relevant Parliamentary Joint Committee scrutinised the proposal for RATE and rejected it, amid concerns about whether a single body covering such a wide and diverse area of practice could gain the confidence and respect of Parliament, professionals and the public. But now, following a review of arm's-length bodies, the Government has announced its intention to retain the statutory powers of the HFEA while transferring them to other bodies, such as the Department of Health and the Care Quality Commission.

If you would like to attend this event, please register your interest by emailing Sandy Starr at sstarr@progress.org.uk

Welcome address:

Baroness Mary Warnock

Patron of PET, Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and lead author of the Warnock Report that led to the creation of the HFEA

Panel speakers:

• Rt Revd Lord Richard Harries, Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and Professor of Divinity at Gresham College
  
• Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, Head of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research, and member of the HFEA's Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee
• Sheila McLean, Professor of Law and Ethics in Medicine and Director of the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine at the University of Glasgow's School of Law
• Alison Murdoch, Head of the Fertility Centre at the Newcastle Centre for Life and Professor of Reproductive Medicine at Newcastle University's Institute of Human Genetics.

Venue: Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG, UK
Starting At: 18:30
Ending At: 20:30
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