Roy Heather: Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill — In Committee Procedure 
Roy Heather: Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill — In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:621;Page:16361] 
HEATHER ROY (ACT) 
: 
 I rise to speak to clauses 1 and 2 of this Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill and to say in respect of the title that I would have been more in favour of retaining the “Assisted Human Reproduction and Technology” title by which it is commonly known in the area of assisted human reproduction. I guess that is a small matter in the final analysis and I suppose “HART” does roll off the tongue. There is always a danger I think of reducing something to its initials though in that when we talk about the “HART Bill” many people have absolutely no idea what we are talking about. However if we have to say the name in full it does give the real meaning to the bill. 
ACT New Zealand members as we have said in the other parts of this bill will have a split vote. Some of our members think that there is no need for a legislative framework around this. I am one of the two people in the ACT party who is supporting the bill and I am very pleased in fact with the outcome that we have arrived at. 
I think that the Green member’s criticism of Dr Paul Hutchison of the National Party for painting a rosy picture was really quite a sad criticism because there are many infertile couples both in New Zealand and around the world whose lives have been greatly enriched by the addition of a child or children to their families. Without the assistance of human reproductive technology they would have had no hope of ever having children. It does sadden me when I hear criticisms like that. 
Another point that has been raised is that there should have been very strict legislative regulation around the provisions of the bill. I was delighted to see we had in fact opted for the guidelines. I think in reproductive technology and in the area of research it is very important to have a good deal of flexibility in a field that is seeing progress running at a huge pace. There is nothing worse particularly in the area of reproduction than something being held up and perhaps never being able to be retrieved when quick and wise decisions cannot be made in a timely manner. Several examples were given to us as we progressed through the bill where decisions could not have been made in a timely manner if some of these provisions were not put in place. 
I think the biggest advantage of this bill is that the very messy procedure of having to progress issues through a large number of ethics committees can now be avoided. There will be the ministerial advisory committee which set up the guidelines and one ethics committee rather than having to go to several committees around the country to have decisions made in different areas. Those decisions can now be made through one ethics committee and that too will assist the timely progress of decisions through the bill. 
Coming back to the title just for a moment I agree with the United Future member that the title refers to only half of the bill. The bill is about reproductive technology but it is also about research—the research provisions around reproductive technology. The research deserves to be acknowledged because we would not have reproductive technology if it were not for the fact that a great deal of research preceded it. I would have liked to see some acknowledgment in the title that the bill is about research in many respects and is heavily dependent on it. Again I come back to the fact that “HART” might roll neatly off the tongue but the whole point of having a title is to give a true reflection of what a bill is about. The research component is extraordinarily important. 
I want to make a final comment on fertility clinics which have been criticised heavily in the course of this entire debate. I think the fertility clinics that we have in New Zealand have demonstrated a good deal of integrity. We heard Dr Paul Hutchison who knows a great deal about this area say that there have been no major problems in the 20 years that fertility clinics have existed in New Zealand. They have existed with a great deal of integrity and have taken very seriously the professional self-regulation that they have always enjoyed. There is no reason to suggest this integrity will not continue into the future.