ETHICS OF HEALTHY LIFE SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

Advances in biological sciences have led to the emergence of a specialized field called biolaw, which deals with the legal aspects of technology in this domain. A significant issue in biolaw revolves around determining the legal status of embryos and their relationship to pregnant women. This question is intertwined with the beginning of human life and the protection of the unborn. Furthermore, advancements in genetics, such as DNA decoding and mapping of the human genome, alongside developments in Medically Assisted Reproduction, have shifted legal focus to the legal status and protection of reproductive material and fertilized eggs. The European Court of Human Rights also considers these matters in relation to the European Convention. These deliberations involve balancing the rights of fathers, the value and protection of embryos, women's freedom and autonomy in motherhood choices, access to contraception and abortion, as well as public interests in preserving the health of pregnant women during situations where conflicts arise between the lives of the woman and the embryo. Based on the above, this work seeks to present some of the fundamental common aspects of biolaw from a legal standpoint, always relating to the embryo or fetus: a) The right to life and how it relates to human dignity, b) the question of conception and how it relates to pregnancy, the observed conflicts of rights, the right to reproduction and prenatal diagnosis, but also death, and c) the right to health. All the above will be described as simply as possible using jurisprudential examples from cases heard by the European Court of Human Rights (E.C.H.R). Finally, certain ethical problems about current technologies (synthetic life? mouse embryogenesis? Vaccine trials with pregnant women?) and red lines in the context of bioethics will be raised.