RIGHT TO LIFE OF FOETAL

Abstract

The right to life is one of the fundamental rights. There are many moral and legal debates on the right to life of embryos and fetuses. Aside from the debates on whether the embryo/fetus can be considered a human and person, determining the moment when the fetus acquired the legal capacity and personality is important for the legal protection of the embryo/fetus. In addition to the crimes and abortion, with the technological developments in biology, the violations of the right to life of the fetus have increased. Especially with the implementation of assisted reproductive treatment methods, new debates arose about the right to life of IVF embryos. Besides that, genetic diagnostic test applications, spare and research embryos have revealed the importance of determining the legal status of the embryo/fetus. The legal status of the embryo and fetus within the national legislation is still unclear. In the decisions given by the ECHR, it hasn’t reached a definite judgment about when the right to life begins. ECHR, in most of its decisions, didn’t discuss the right to life of the embryo/fetus. When the court found the issue worth discussing, it concluded that the fetus didn’t have the right to life before birth.