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The Royal Commission on Genetic Modification - submissionsPublic Questions Committee
STRATEGIC ISSUES & OPTIONSSubmission The Public Questions Committee (PQC) submitted that their member’s churches believe that religion embraces all of life. They asked, therefore, that the strategies adopted in respect to genetic modification (GM) technology start from the premise that the integrity of the biosphere is a sacred heritage that all are ethically protect and that we are entrusted with by future generations who have a right to celebrate its variety and diversity intact.
ETHICAL, CULTURAL & SOCIAL ISSUESSubmission The (PQC) recommended that New Zealand not enter into any agreements which make possible unethical research or unethical use of genetic modification (GM), genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or GM products. They then expressed concern that this may de difficult due to the profit driven motives of GM technology. Nor, in their opinion, should the Government of New Zealand ever be a party to off-loading the risks of research in GM or of the production of GMOs on to third world or poor countries and populations. In their opinion in all GM research, the first principle should be "first do no harm".
Concern was expressed in this submission in respect to the difficulty in obtaining information on the scope of GM research in New Zealand. It was the opinion of the PQC that every New Zealander has the right to know whether what they, and other species, ingest has been affected by genetic modification. In this respect, the principle of informed choice must also be maintained and that choice must never be confined to those likely to benefit from the GM technology. This is because the creation of what is good is the responsibility of the whole of society and must not be left to specialists and experts.
They then noted that every aspect of GM technology has a religious, cultural and ethical dimension. In their opinion, human curiosity and research skills are gifts of God. However, these need to be used responsibly for the benefit of all parts of creation. Since their churches believe in the integrity of creation it was their contention that humans should not risk doing harm to any part of it. They then stated a strong preference for minimising any interference with nature that involves unknown outcomes and risks that could be irreversible.
It was emphasised by the PQC that no medical changes occur in an ethical or religious vacuum. Even without GM technology, biomedical choices are already fraught with difficult ethical decisions. One of these ethical dilemmas is that third world countries may not have equal access to the benefits of biomedical research. In their opinion, people are never exempted from the duty to try to discern the will of God in a difficult ethical decisions, whether it affects them as an individual or whether it affects others over whom they have power or are caring for.
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