THE right to a father for children born after fertility treatment was dramatically dropped by MPs last night, after hours of impassioned debate in the Commons.
THE right to a father for children born after fertility treatment was dramatically dropped by MPs last night, after hours of impassioned debate in the Commons.
The government won its case for scrapping the requirement for IVF clinics to cons
ider a woman's access to a father for a potential child.
With strong views crossing party boundaries, MPs had been given a free vote on the issue.
But the government imposed a three-line whip, ensuring that many more Labour MPs came out to back its preferences in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
For the first time in nearly two decades, MPs were also voting on a major bill which could change the term limits for abortion.
Alex Salmond, the First Minister, who is still an MP, made a rare visit to the House of Commons to vote in favour of restricting women's access to abortion from 24 weeks to 20 weeks.
Traditionalists had wanted to retain the onus on fertility clinics to consider whether a child would have access to a father when considering women for IVF treatment.
But the requirement was axed by 292 votes to 217 amid concerns it discriminates against single women and lesbian couples.
Instead, the government wanted to see clinics to consider the right to "supportive parenting".
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader and one of the main champions of maintaining the right to a father, told MPs: "Taking it away … will be as though we are saying to those couples, particularly in the heterosexual world, that this is not an issue, that fathers are not important."
Mr Duncan Smith, who has led a major study into social breakdown since rejoining the back-benches, said it was "utter nonsense" to suggest it was discriminatory.
Children without fathers were more likely to fail in school, develop drug addiction and have serious alcohol problems, he said.
The government's case was "siding wholly on the aspect of the rights of the adult" when the "paramount" consideration should be the rights of the child.
"All we are saying is 'take consideration of the need of a child for a father' not 'if you don't have a father you will never get treatment'.
"It's only considering it."
His amendment to retain the right to a father was lost by 75 votes.
Labour's Geraldine Smith had agreed with Mr Duncan Smith, adding: "Is there any wonder people think politicians are out of touch with ordinary people when we have debates such as this?" She stressed that lesbian couples could still give their children access to a father figure, such as a grandfather or male relative.
Dawn Primarolo, the health minister, argued that reinstating the need for a father would be discriminatory as it would "create an additional hurdle" for lesbian couples and single women.
It was "wholly inappropriate" to retain the "additional discriminatory burden" following the decisions to allow civil partnerships and adoption by gay couples.
The legislation was "fair, it offers equitable access and it recognises the complexities of the Britain we live in today", she added.
Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrats' science spokesman, said it was a "ridiculous" allegation that the bill was an "attack on fathers or fatherhood".
This is not about broken homes, it's about the opposite. It's about a couple or an individual that wants to create a child and a home."
He asked why infertile people should be asked to meet a set of standards set by the state when no such burden was placed on fertile people.
'Mothers often overlook child's feelings' HEATHER Anderson, an offshore medic, 36, suffers from severe endometriosis and tried for a baby for four years with her husband Colin, 38.
The Inverness couple spent £25,000 on IVF treatment, with the third attempt resulting in a miscarriage last year. But then Mrs Anderson fell pregnant naturally and now the pair have Megan, aged four months.
Mrs Anderson says fathers act as moral beacons for children and changing the wording of this bill sends out the message that fathers are not important.
She said: "Changing the wording damages society in a moral sense. A child is emotionally and behaviourally affected by not having a father around."
She has no problems with single women and lesbian couples getting easier access to fertility treatment to help them to have a baby, under the plans outlined by the government yesterday. But she said: "The child's feelings often get overlooked by mothers who yearn for a baby and don't think about how the child will feel when it finds out its father is a sperm donor from Spain."
The full article contains 799 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
