The Ethics of Human Embryo Experimentation
In October of last year, the Australian Senate Select Committee on Human Embryo Experimentation tabled its report. The principal finding was that "the embryo may be properly described as genetically new human life organized as a distinct entity oriented toward further development," so that "the respect due to the embryo from the process of fertilization onwards requires its protection from destructive non-therapeutic experimentation . . . " (Senate Select Committee 1985, xiv).