Bioethicists express concern over the legalization of three-parent babies in U.K.

Bioethicists in the U.K. are not happy about the fertility regulator's approval of a new procedure that would create babies from the DNA of three different people.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) announced on Thursday that fertility clinics can now apply for a licence to conduct three-person In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). The procedure is supposed to eliminate the risk of passing on genetic diseases to the baby through the use of a donor egg.

NHS England said that it will pay for the treatment costs of the first trial for women who meet the HFEA criteria, The Tablet reported. The women will only have to agree to a long-term follow-up after the birth of their children.

Bioethicist Dr. Anthony McCarthy, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said that the decision will not help those who are already suffering from diseases.

"It comes as little surprise that the HFEA has approved the creation of 'three-parent' embryos given their track record of undermining respect for the human embryo and the integrity of human reproduction. The two techniques which the HFEA has decided to permit are not curative of mitochondrial diseases and in no way help those who already have them," he said, as reported by Catholic Herald.

McCarthy added that the techniques raise serious safety concerns, and he asserted that new genetic problems could arise in the future generations.

Professor David Albert Jones, director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, said that the new procedure involves "unnecessary risks," and it destroys two human embryos for each embryo produced.

In a statement issued last week, the Centre said that the new technique is tantamount to "genetic engineering" that "crosses the Rubicon into the genetic manipulation of future generations, which has been widely prohibited and condemned by various international declarations."

Life spokesman Mark Bhagwandin criticized the HFEA for its decision to approve the procedure despite objections from the public who have written to the regulatory body.

"The HFEA says it is a cautious decision. However this genetic modification of human beings, is very uncertain and potentially dangerous. There is nothing cautious about the HFEA ruling," he said.

He stated that Life supports further investigation and research into other ethical remedies that do not involve genetic modification.