Last winter, the Italian Heath Minister, Girolamo Sirchia, pushed a law through the Italian Parliament that prohibits the use of stem cells for research and severely limits in vitro fertilization (seen as being one of the most restrictive in the EU, if not the world). It was announced yesterday that a young Italian boy was cured of Thalassamia because of stem cell transplants from his younger brothers who are twins.
Dr. Sirchia has come under fire, though, though, and numerous legislators in Italy have called for his resignation. Why? Because of the perceived hypocrisy in being a staunch supporter for Italy's assisted reproduction laws and for his lauding of the boy's cure. From the article in The Scientist:
While reporting on the "historic outcome" at a press conference, Sirchia did not mention that the twin brothers were designer babies, born healthy thanks to preimplantation screening and assisted reproduction carried out at a fertility center in Istanbul, Turkey.
Many have seen this as trying to have his cake and eat it, too, by hiding the fact that the transplant was linked to in vitro procedures that would have been illegal in Italy. The Health Minister claimed that he did not know the twins were "designer babies," but scientists have come out to say that anyone with basic medical knowledge would have to have known that they were the product of specialized in vitro fertilization.
Opponents of Italy's assisted reproduction law are hoping not only that Dr. Sirchia resigns, but that this incident bolsters their efforts to repeal that law.
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