Selecting a disabled embryo can constitute grievous bodily harm
Journal article
Authors | Cherkassky, L. |
---|---|
Abstract | The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended) in the UK allows parents to select a disabled embryo for implantation as part of fertility treatment services. There was widespread condemnation of a couple in the United States who intentionally conceived two deaf children, and there is evidence to suggest that requests for dwarfism are on the rise. This article suggests that it is an offence against the person to give birth to an intentionally disabled child, and that this is a unique criminal act that can be distinguished from a wrongful life action (rejected in UK law by McKay v Essex Area Health Authority [1982] Q.B. 1166). The components of s.18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 will be explored to prove that should an intentionally disabled child ever come forward, a prosecution may be possible under the criminal law. |
Keywords | Embryos; Fertility law |
Year | 2015 |
Journal | Medico-Legal Journal of Ireland |
Web address (URL) | http://hdl.handle.net/10545/609452 |
hdl:10545/609452 | |
Publication dates | 2015 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 16 May 2016, 13:46 |
Contributors | University of Derby |
File | File Access Level Open |
File | File Access Level Open |
https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/955z5/selecting-a-disabled-embryo-can-constitute-grievous-bodily-harm
Download files
50
total views36
total downloads3
views this month2
downloads this month