New Democrat MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis, who has spearheaded her party's position on the bill, said yesterday she has received a written pledge from Health Minister Anne McLellan to do what she can to resolve a key NDP concern -- that the bill does not require gender parity among members of an agency being struck to oversee some of the new regulations.

"Though I cannot make a binding commitment on future Ministers of Health, I can assure you that I have instructed my department to ensure that consultations with individual women and women's organizations are extensive and that there is a sufficient number of female candidates of the highest quality put forward," she wrote.

Ms. Wasylycia-Leis said that, while the party did not get what it wanted, she felt it was important to support a bill that could die if it doesn't come to a vote this fall.

The Liberal leadership has expressed concern that up to 30 backbenchers could vote against the bill. The bill could die if opposition members voted en masse with the government or if the House is prorogued when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is replaced by heir apparent Paul Martin.

A government insider said yesterday the NDP support "will probably give us the numbers now."

Ms. Wasylycia-Leis said the NDP's support was not as keen as it could have been. "I went to the caucus with a recommendation that we reluctantly support this bill," she said.

Ms. Wasylycia-Leis added that it would be a shame if the bill dies after 10 years in the making and other failed attempts. She said that Liberals had also started to blame the NDP for not supporting the bill.

Many Liberal backbenchers oppose the bill because it would allow the use of embryos left over from fertility clinics in the use of stem-cell research. Others believe the bill is not clear enough in banning cloning.

Ms. McLellan's decision demonstrates just how difficult it has become for Mr. Chrétien to keep his troops in line as his tenure in the job winds down. The government recently won a motion on same-sex marriage by a razor-thin majority and is facing deep discontent with its efforts to make same-sex marriage legal.

A spokeswoman for Ms. McLellan said the minister recognized the need to attract support for the bill. "Clearly we would like to move ahead with this bill, and we would like to move ahead with as many members as possible," Farah Mohamed said.

"The issue of female representation was raised and obviously with respect to in-vitro fertilization it is of paramount importance to women and the minister recognizes this."