Two Scottish lesbians have won the right to fertility treatment by NHS. The reluctant authorities gave in when the couple sued them.
The women claimed they were denied fertility treatment on the grounds of their sexual orientation.Caroline Harris, 28, and Julie McMullan, were suing NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for £20,000 at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, claiming they were victims of discrimination.
They also wanted a judge to order fertility treatment for Miss Harris - but, until last night, NHS bosses stood by their decision to refuse it.
In a last-minute climbdown though, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde bosses reversed their stance Thursday and decided to offer them IVF.
As per Scottish Executive guidance, 2007, couples qualify if there is infertility with an appropriate diagnosed cause or unexplained infertility of at least three years’ duration.
But at least three NHS boards have funded IVF for lesbian couples.
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Actually the court papers in the latest case revealed there were already 460 local couples on their waiting list for IVF and the waiting time for treatment, Graham Grant reported for Daily Mail.
Predictably the conservative lobby is upset. Dr Adrian Rogers, former director of the Conservative Family Institute, a family values group, hit out at the decision.
'Deliberately setting out to deprive a child of a male role model has nothing to do with equality. Donor conception of the kind they are seeking is, in my view, morally wrong,' he said.
'It is wrong for the taxpayer to be funding this when the nation is on the verge of bankruptcy.'
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'It is wrong for the taxpayer to be funding this when the nation is on the verge of bankruptcy.'
Source-Medindia
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