Bill C-6 : Assisted Human Reproduction Act of Canada (2004) (excerpts related to Gender Equality) (English)
[excerpts]
Bill C-6
An Act respecting assisted human reproduction and related research
Prohibited Activities
Prohibited procedures
5.(1) No person shall knowingly
(a) create a human clone by using any technique, or transplant a human clone into a human being or into any non-human life form or artificial device;
(b) create anin vitroembryo for any purpose other than creating a human being or improving or providing instruction in assisted reproduction procedures;
(c) for the purpose of creating a human being, create an embryo from a cell or part of a cell taken from an embryo or foetus or transplant an embryo so created into a human being;
(d) maintain an embryo outside the body of a female person after the fourteenth day of its development following fertilization or creation, excluding any time during which its development has been suspended;
(e) for the purpose of creating a human being, perform any procedure or provide, prescribe or administer any thing that would ensure or increase the probability that an embryo will be of a particular sex, or that would identify the sex of anin vitroembryo, except to prevent, diagnose or treat a sex-linked disorder or disease;
(f) alter the genome of a cell of a human being orin vitroembryo such that the alteration is capable of being transmitted to descendants;
(g) transplant a sperm, ovum, embryo or foetus of a non-human life form into a human being;
(h) for the purpose of creating a human being, make use of any human reproductive material or anin vitroembryo that is or was transplanted into a non-human life form;
(i) create a chimera, or transplant a chimera into either a human being or a non-human life form; or
(j) create a hybrid for the purpose of reproduction, or transplant a hybrid into either a human being or a non-human life form.
Payment for prohibited act
(3) No person shall pay or offer to pay consideration to any person for doing anything prohibited by this section.
Payment for surrogacy
6.(1) No person shall pay consideration to a female person to be a surrogate mother, offer to pay such consideration or advertise that it will be paid.
Acting as intermediary
(2) No person shall accept consideration for arranging for the services of a surrogate mother, offer to make such an arrangement for consideration or advertise the arranging of such services.
Payment to intermediaries
(3) No person shall pay consideration to another person to arrange for the services of a surrogate mother, offer to pay such consideration or advertise the payment of it.
Surrogate mother - minimum age
(4) No person shall counsel or induce a female person to become a surrogate mother, or perform any medical procedure to assist a female person to become a surrogate mother, knowing or having reason to believe that the female person is under 21 years of age.
Validity of agreement
(5) This section does not affect the validity under provincial law of any agreement under which a person agrees to be a surrogate mother.
Purchase or sale of Embryos
(2) No person shall
(a) purchase, offer to purchase or advertise for the purchase of anin vitroembryo; or
(b) sell, offer for sale or advertise for sale anin vitroembryo.
Purchase of other Reproductive material
(3) No person shall purchase, offer to purchase or advertise for the purchase of a human cell or gene from a donor or a person acting on behalf of a donor, with the intention of using the gene or cell to create a human being or of making it available for that purpose.
Exchanges included
(4) In this section, "purchase" or "sell" includes to acquire or dispose of in exchange for property or services.
Use of reproductive material without consent
8.(1) No person shall make use of human reproductive material for the purpose of creating an embryo unless the donor of the material has given written consent, in accordance with the regulations, to its use for that purpose.
Posthumous use without consent
(2) No person shall remove human reproductive material from a donors body after the donors death for the purpose of creating an embryo unless the donor of the material has given written consent, in accordance with the regulations, to its removal for that purpose.
Use of in vitro embryo without consent
(3) No person shall make use of anin vitroembryo for any purpose unless the donor has given written consent, in accordance with the regulations, to its use for that purpose.
Gametes obtained from minor
9.No person shall obtain any sperm or ovum from a donor under 18 years of age, or use any sperm or ovum so obtained, except for the purpose of preserving the sperm or ovum or for the purpose of creating a human being that the person reasonably believes will be raised by the donor.