CYIL vol. 11 (2020)

CYIL 11 (2020) BALANCING THE INTERESTS OF PREGNANT WOMAN AND CHILD… Some authors believe that the beginning of childbirth should take place earlier. For example, Zdeněk Kühn argues that while the mother’s feelings of pain and discomfort cannot be considered the beginning of birth since they can start way too soon, the childbirth should be regarded as having started when its process is clearly irreversible 21 (we can imagine, for example, the start of regular contractions or the outflow of amniotic fluid 22 ). Nevertheless, the majority of doctrine takes a stricter approach. 3. The case for the gradualist approach From the strict perspective of positive law, the child acquires the right to life not sooner than when her or his body starts to leave the birth canal. It would thus be difficult to claim that under Czech law, the life of a child before birth is equally protected as the life of an adult. The Charter’s formulation that the unborn human life is worthy of protection is partly a compromise between the “pro-life” and “pro-choice” interests. Its importance, nevertheless, exceeds a simple proclamation. It can be understood as an intentional distinction between different levels of protection granted to the already-born persons on the one hand and human life before birth on the other hand. The wording of the second sentence of Article 6 (1) of the Charter might even be interpreted as implicitly suggesting the gradualist approach according to which the foetus becomes ever worthier of protection as its cognitive, sentient, and other functions are developing. 23 While the gradualist interpretation is just one of more possible ways to understand the constitutional protection of the unborn life, it seems to be a rather rational one. Gradualism is arguably the most popular view on the moral status of foetus among the academic commentators in the Western world 24 . However, we do not need to analyse the vivid ethical discussion on its suitability 25 . For the purposes of this paper, we can simply base our argumentation on the fact that abortion on request (without health grounds) is legal up to twelve weeks of pregnancy in the Czech Republic 26 . Illicit abortion, either with or without the consent of the pregnant woman, constitutes a crime (while the pregnant woman 21 See KÜHN, Zdeněk. Ochrana lidského plodu v trestním právu [Protection of Human Foetus in Criminal Law]. Institut pro další vzdělávání soudců a státních zástupců, Praha 1998, pp. 9-10, 12. Cited also in ŠIROKÁ, Lucie, POVOLNÁ, Michaela. Právo rodící ženy odmítnout péči versus právo dítěte na život a zdraví ve světle judikatury Ústavního soudu a Evropského soudu pro lidská práva [The Right of a Woman in Labour to Refuse Treatment versus the Child’s Right to Life and Health in the Light of the Case-Law of the Czech Constitutional Court and the ECtHR]. Jurisprudence. (2017, Vol. 26, No. 5), p. 23. 22 See ŠIROKÁ, Lucie, POVOLNÁ, Michaela. Právo rodící ženy odmítnout péči versus právo dítěte na život a zdraví ve světle judikatury Ústavního soudu a Evropského soudu pro lidská práva [The Right of a Woman in Labour to Refuse Treatment versus the Child’s Right to Life and Health in the Light of the Case-Law of the Czech Constitutional Court and the ECtHR]. Jurisprudence. (2017, Vol. 26, No. 5), pp. 23-24. 23 See KOKEŠ, Marian. Commentary to Article 6. In WAGNEROVÁ, Eliška, ŠIMÍČEK, Vojtěch, LANGÁŠEK, Tomáš, POSPÍŠIL, Ivo (eds.). Listina základních práv a svobod. Komentář [The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Commentary]. Wolters Kluwer, Praha 2012, p. 156. See also ŠOLC, Martin. Právo, etika a kmenové buňky [Law, Ethics, and Stem Cells]. Wolters Kluwer, Praha 2018, p. 123. 24 See GOOLD, Imogen, HERRING, Jonathan. Great Debates in Medical Law and Ethics. 2 nd ed. Palgrave, London 2018, p. 156. 25 For a brief discussion on gradualist view of the foetus’ moral value, see ibid., pp. 156-157, or VÁCHA, Marek. Status lidského embrya [The Status of Human Embryo]. In VÁCHA, Marek, KÖNIGOVÁ, Radana, MAUER, Miloš. Základy moderní lékařské etiky [The Fundamentals of Modern Medical Ethics]. Portál, Praha 2012, pp. 193-194. 26 Section 4 of Act No. 66/1986 Coll., on Artificial Interruption of Pregnancy.

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