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Christian charity "deeply disappointed" by HFEA decision

Christian social concern charity CARE has expressed disappointment at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's decision to allow tissue typing of embryos for the purposes of using children as a source of biological material.

The move means that parents with a seriously ill child will be able to seek a licence from the HFEA to run biopsy tests on embryos, with a view to tissue matching and using stem cells or other biological material to treat the older sibling.

Roger Smith, Head of Public Policy at CARE, said: "This technique is fraught with ethical and clinical difficulties. It means that children will be created as biological commodities - a child as the means to another's end. There is also a considerable risk of damaging embryos through the biopsy process. We are deeply disappointed by the HFEA's decision.

"We recognise that there are some genuinely hard cases, but this is a matter of public policy and the best interests of any child born through this process must be put at the heart of the HFEA's decisions. We cannot even begin to know what the physiological or clinical effects on the donor child will be - even the HFEA are recommending counselling for the family."

Commenting on the role of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and an upcoming review of the Act which established it, Mr. Smith said:

"This is yet another example of the HFEA overstepping the mark, making significant policy decisions without proper or democratic reference to Parliament. A review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, and one which considerably tightens the policy making role of the Authority, is now urgent."

Self-harm impact confirmed by church youth workers

A spiralling epidemic of self-harm across Britain, identified in a recent report by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), has been verified by the Church Army's Amber Project.

The scheme works exclusively with young people who self-harm which, alongside suicide, has become the third leading cause for life years lost after cancer and heart disease.

Co-ordinator Caryl Stock said: "We know from our work at the Amber Project that self-harm appears to remain a taboo issue within the NHS. Often staff are simply not sufficiently trained to understand the issues and how to respond appropriately."

She spoke of "an acute shortage of funding" into research and training - and a chronic undefunding of support agencies. Mental health charity SANE has called for accident and emergency departments to be more alert to the potential risks.

Christian in video game industry calls for more faith

Money and "a lack of faith" are the root causes of the proliferation of violent video games, according to a Christian working in the industry.

"It's very difficult to have a decent selling game, as we are very often selling to the lowest common denominator," said Matthew Nagy, managing director of Coyote Developments Ltd, one of the UK's leading video game developers.

He said: "The worldly way of thinking is that we need to cater our game content to what the public wants in order to create an instant hit that will sell over half a million copies - which is the number of units you need to sell to recoup the development and advertising costs. So, sadly, many game developers do just this. They make games that reflect what's on mainstream television or film, or even the news. As a result, sex and violence wind up ruling the day.

"It's a very worldly way to think, but one that seems to be a proven financial model. So money, or the love of it, is helping dictate what games people make."

Coyote Developments was established in 1998, andmakes games for all the popular video games machines on the market, such as the X-Box and Sony Playstation. More recently, Matthew and other Christians at the company have been developing games aimed at a Christian market.

"What's needed is more faith," says Matthew. "Faith in our talents to create stories and believable characters. Faith to believe in the creativity that God's put inside us. If there was more faith driving the games developers, then instead of making games that please people, we'd all be making games that please God."

Matthew made his comments following the controversy surrounding the murder of Leicester schoolboy Stefan Pakeerah. The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association - the voluntary standards body for the video game industry - rejected claims of any link between Stefan's death and the game said to have prompted it.

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		NEWS Christian charity "deeply disappointed" by HFEA decision Christian social concern charity CARE has expressed disappointment at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's decision to allow tissue typing of embryos for the purposes of using children as a source of biological material. The move means that parents with a seriously ill child will be able to seek a licence from the HFEA to run biopsy tests on embryos, with a view to tissue matching and using stem cells or other biological material to treat the older sibling. Roger Smith, Head of Public Policy at CARE, said: "This technique is fraught with ethical and clinical difficulties. It means that children will be created as biological commodities - a child as the means to another's end. There is also a considerable risk of damaging embryos through the biopsy process. We are deeply disappointed by the HFEA's decision. "We recognise that there are some genuinely hard cases, but this is a matter of public policy and the best interests of any child born through this process must be put at the heart of the HFEA's decisions. We cannot even begin to know what the physiological or clinical effects on the donor child will be - even the HFEA are recommending counselling for the family." Commenting on the role of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and an upcoming review of the Act which established it, Mr. Smith said: "This is yet another example of the HFEA overstepping the mark, making significant policy decisions without proper or democratic reference to Parliament. A review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, and one which considerably tightens the policy making role of the Authority, is now urgent." Self-harm impact confirmed by church youth workers A spiralling epidemic of self-harm across Britain, identified in a recent report by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), has been verified by the Church Army's Amber Project. The scheme works exclusively with young people who self-harm which, alongside suicide, has become the third leading cause for life years lost after cancer and heart disease. Co-ordinator Caryl Stock said: "We know from our work at the Amber Project that self-harm appears to remain a taboo issue within the NHS. Often staff are simply not sufficiently trained to understand the issues and how to respond appropriately." She spoke of "an acute shortage of funding" into research and training - and a chronic undefunding of support agencies. Mental health charity SANE has called for accident and emergency departments to be more alert to the potential risks. Christian in video game industry calls for more faith Money and "a lack of faith" are the root causes of the proliferation of violent video games, according to a Christian working in the industry. "It's very difficult to have a decent selling game, as we are very often selling to the lowest common denominator," said Matthew Nagy, managing director of Coyote Developments Ltd, one of the UK's leading video game developers. He said: "The worldly way of thinking is that we need to cater our game content to what the public wants in order to create an instant hit that will sell over half a million copies - which is the number of units you need to sell to recoup the development and advertising costs. So, sadly, many game developers do just this. They make games that reflect what's on mainstream television or film, or even the news. As a result, sex and violence wind up ruling the day. "It's a very worldly way to think, but one that seems to be a proven financial model. So money, or the love of it, is helping dictate what games people make." Coyote Developments was established in 1998, andmakes games for all the popular video games machines on the market, such as the X-Box and Sony Playstation. More recently, Matthew and other Christians at the company have been developing games aimed at a Christian market. "What's needed is more faith," says Matthew. "Faith in our talents to create stories and believable characters. Faith to believe in the creativity that God's put inside us. If there was more faith driving the games developers, then instead of making games that please people, we'd all be making games that please God." Matthew made his comments following the controversy surrounding the murder of Leicester schoolboy Stefan Pakeerah. The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association - the voluntary standards body for the video game industry - rejected claims of any link between Stefan's death and the game said to have prompted it. © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.