Bill C-13:
Welcoming Chaos
The problem started in 1954, it was one of the greatest medical breakthroughs to date and yet somehow it would lead to a series of troublesome and puzzling debates over a topic so fragile to the human emotion. The problem was the deduction of the structure of DNA and the weary prophecy was the creation of a genetically engineered human being. It would be only another twenty-four yeas until the prophets had their moment of grace. The first human baby was created through the use of in vitro fertilization and with this, argued the skeptics, would come a dark age in which the very structure of human dignity and respect would be challenged by the gruesome force of medicinal advancements. Once again their fears would be addressed when the Scotsman Ian Wilmut cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996. While the cauldron was starting to simmer advancements continued.
The Centre Block on Parliament Hill, containing th...
A colony of embryonic stem cells, from the H9 cell...
English: Embryonic Stem Cells. (A) shows hESCs. (B...In a short five years, groups from across the globe would announce their intentions to clone the world's first human being. And so the cauldron boiled over. In less than fifty years the medical profession had gone from deducing DNA to intending to clone a human being. Politicians began to panic, as the need for reproductive laws seemed an absolute necessity in order to restrain, or at least administer, the advancement of minds that seemed to reach an infinite distance and still hold desire for an extra inch. Subsequently, the great intellects that form our House of Commons decided to debate over a number of bills that were introduced in an attempt to resolve the pressing problem. As a result, Canada witnessed the failure of Bill C-47 and the struggle of Bill C-13.
When the topic at hand is human dignity, precision and detail are essential. However, a key...