Dutch Senate narrowly backs growing embryos for research, 38 votes to 35

A narrow majority in the Senate

On Tuesday, 10 November, the Eerste Kamer approved an initiative bill from D66 and VVD that lifts the ban on creating embryos for scientific research. The vote was 38 in favour and 35 against, with two senators absent, and the senators voted by name, which left the outcome uncertain until the last moment. The bill amends the Embryo Act, in force since 2002, and is the first substantial change to that law since it took effect. Until now, research was allowed only on leftover embryos from IVF treatments, which are three to five days old by the time they can be studied. Under the new law, embryos may be created for research purposes alone.

Why researchers want the change

Scientists want to observe the first hours and days after fertilisation, a stage that leftover embryos cannot reveal because they are already too far developed. AD reports that only one in four embryo transfers currently leads to a lasting pregnancy, and proponents argue that better research could raise that success rate. Research could also shed light on hereditary diseases and serious genetic abnormalities. Sources add that the change should keep prospective parents from travelling abroad, since very few eggs are donated in the Netherlands because the subject is so sensitive. Clinical embryologist Sebastiaan Mastenbroek of Amsterdam UMC welcomed the vote and tied it directly to patients.

“The main goal of loosening the law has always been to make research possible into the effectiveness of IVF treatments.”

Mastenbroek added that animal models cannot answer every question, because a mouse is not a human being. Jan Paternotte had earlier pointed to the fluid in which embryos develop in their first days, noting that its type affects birth weight and may have health effects up to the age of nine, but that researchers do not yet know why.

Divided parliamentary groups

The Tweede Kamer had already approved the proposal around the end of 2025, with 90 members in favour and 59 against, according to NOS, which put that vote about a year earlier. In the Senate, the PVV, ChristenUnie and SGP voted unanimously against. Three of the fourteen Pro senators also voted against, including Mei Li Vos, who is Senate chair and a former Tweede Kamer member, and Niko Koffeman of the Party for the Animals. The CDA group split as well, with one of its senators voting in favour.

For38

Against35

For

38 votes

Against

35 votes

Data from the article text

Objections and the conditions attached

Critics fear a slippery slope toward designer babies, and some find it indefensible to create life and then discard it. According to AD, the PVV called the bill a 'moral turning point' and said it opposed it out of respect for life, while the SGP called it morally irresponsible to create embryos and then destroy them. ChristenUnie leader Mirjam Bikker argued that changing the law could make more invasive interventions on embryos, such as altering DNA, easier. Supporters point to conditions: cloning remains prohibited, and research is permitted only when no other options exist. Health minister Sophie Hermans (VVD), speaking in the Senate, stressed the strict assessment required before permission to create embryos is given.

“This bill offers hope for people.”

Once the law takes effect, pregnancy will no longer be the only permitted reason for creating embryos. Embryo creation under conditions is already allowed in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden and Finland, while some countries bar research on embryos altogether, even leftover ones.