Theoretical medical considerations with reference to fetal and maternal rights in pregnancy termination
Beller, F.K.
Zeitschrift für Arztliche Fortbildung 87(10-11): 833-836
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0044-2178 PMID: 8303923 Document Number: 405863
The question is when does human life begin. Whether it begins with fertilization depends on how human life is imagined: if as a conglomeration of gametes, sperm, and oocytes, then the placenta or a chorionic carcinoma also represent human life. The question is better asked: when begins the genetically, singly determined new human life. The biologically right answer to this is: the union of the haploid genome, which follows, at the earliest in a 8-cell stage, after 48 hours. It must also be considered that genetically unalterable life can also result from the division of an egg cell. Not every conception is fertilization, but every fertilization is conception. A genetic identity is only one of many representations including individual identity. However, many bioethicists hold the view that the embryo is not a person but a human in being. The legal position on human life in Germany is not clear, partly because there is no specific perception of the value of human life, which is defined in a time frame relating to pregnancy (terms, trimesters). The German Basic Law declared that the worth of human beings starts with fertilization i.e., before the beginning of genetic identity. On the other hand, Section 218 of the abortion law states that pregnancy begins with implantation. This raises the question of whether the embryo is accorded more protection than the fetus. The right of the embryo/fetus to life versus the right of the woman to autonomy is also relevant. Two major monolithic religions reject the right of the woman in the abortion issue where the right of the fetus prevails. Only Ireland and Louisiana do not recognize such a maternal right when the mother's life is endangered. Regarding eugenic indication the German law states that the pregnancy can be terminated on account of severe impairment of the fetus thereby reiterating maternal autonomy and evaluating less perfect life. The America abortion decision of 1973, which allows abortion up to the 22nd week of pregnancy, seems to be more straightforward.