Throughout the 1980s, there was considerable public discussion in Britain about the
legitimacy of scientific research upon human embryos and about the advisability of
seeking to develop new science-based techniques that would further extend medical
control over human reproduction. In 1990, legislation was passed permitting such
research, but at the same time restricting its scope and specifying how the technologies
of assisted reproduction were to be implemented. The present study examines how women
contributed to, and were represented in, the final phase of parliamentary debate over the
proposed legislation.
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