8—Amendment of section 3—Interpretation
(1) Section 3(1),
definition of "human embryo"—delete the definition and substitute:
"human embryo" means a discrete entity that has arisen from either—
(a) the
first mitotic division when fertilisation of a human oocyte by a human sperm
is complete; or
(b) any
other process that initiates organised development of a biological entity with
a human nuclear genome or altered human nuclear genome that has the potential
to develop up to, or beyond, the stage at which the primitive streak appears,
and has not yet reached 8 weeks of development since the first mitotic
division;
(2)
Section 3(1)—after the definition of "human sperm" insert:
"hybrid embryo" means—
(a) an
embryo created by the fertilisation of a human egg by animal sperm; or
(b) an
embryo created by the fertilisation of an animal egg by human sperm; or
(c) a
human egg into which the nucleus of an animal cell has been introduced; or
(d) an
animal egg into which the nucleus of a human cell has been introduced; or
(e) a
thing declared by the regulations to be a hybrid embryo;
(3) Section 3(1),
definition of "proper consent"—delete the definition and substitute:
"proper consent", in relation to the use of an excess ART embryo or a
human egg, or the creation or use of any other embryo, means consent obtained
in accordance with guidelines issued by the Chief Executive Officer of the
NHMRC under the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992 of the
Commonwealth and prescribed by the regulations under the Research Involving
Human Embryos Act 2002 of the Commonwealth for the purposes
of the definition of "proper consent" in that Act;
(4) Section 3(1),
definition of "related Commonwealth Act", (a)—after " Cloning " insert:
for Reproduction
(5) Section 3(1),
definition of "responsible person —delete the definition and substitute:
"responsible person" means—
(a) in
relation to an excess ART embryo—
(i)
each person who provided the egg or sperm from which the
embryo was created; and
(ii)
the woman for whom the embryo was created, for the
purpose of achieving her pregnancy; and
(iii)
any person who was the spouse of a person mentioned in
subparagraph (i) at the time the egg or sperm mentioned in that
subparagraph was provided; and
(iv)
any person who was the spouse of the woman mentioned in
subparagraph (ii) at the time the embryo was created; or
(b) in
relation to an embryo other than an excess ART embryo—each person whose
reproductive material, genetic material or cell was used, or is proposed to be
used, in the creation or use of the embryo; or
(c) in
relation to a human egg—the woman who was the biological donor of the
egg;
(6)
Section 3(1)—after the definition of "State" insert:
"unsuitable for implantation", in relation to a human embryo, means a
human embryo that—
(a) is
diagnosed by preimplantation genetic diagnosis as unsuitable for implantation,
in accordance with the Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive
Technology in Clinical Practice and Research (2004) , issued by the Chief
Executive Officer of the NHMRC; or
(b) is
determined to be unsuitable for implantation in the body of a woman, in
accordance with objective criteria specified in guidelines issued by the Chief
Executive Officer of the NHMRC under the National Health and Medical Research
Council Act 1992 of the Commonwealth and prescribed by the regulations under
the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 of the Commonwealth for the
purposes of the definition of "unsuitable for implantation in that Act;
"use" includes develop, or development, as the case requires.
(7)
Section 3—after subsection (3) insert:
(4) A reference in
this Act to an "embryo" (including a human embryo) is a reference to a living
embryo.
(5) A reference in
this Act to a "human egg" is a reference to a human oocyte.
(6) A reference in
this Act to a "human embryo" does not include a reference to—
(a) a
hybrid embryo; or
(b) a
human embryonic stem cell line.