CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ MITOCHONDRIAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY IN THE LIGHT OF THE CONVENTION… Human Rights, despite its somewhat ambiguous and very cautious approach to the question, does not consider an embryo a person 37 . 4.2 The analogy of sex-selective abortions When we find ourselves facing a seemingly unprecedented problem, it is often helpful to analyse an analogous situation that has already been studied. At this place, such a familiar situation may be represented by the problem of SSA (sex selective abortion). A good illustration of the approach taken by the Council of Europe – and other international and human rights organizations – to the problemof SSA is found in the then Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks’ short public commentary on SSA from 2015. Dr. Muižnieks carefully avoided being drawn into the abortion debate, but explicitly called the practice of aborting female foetuses on grounds of their sex “discriminatory” and “highly problematic from the standpoint of the principle of equality between men and women”. 38 It is possible to think of several reasons for the impermissibility of sex-selection abortions. Dr. Muižnieks stated that they include strong elements of “physical and psychological violence” , 39 but embryos are not considered persons by the law and it cannot be assumed that all women undergo SSA involuntarily. 40 It can also be argued that the practice of aborting female foetuses leads to an unequal representation of both sexes in society. 41 Even though the public interest in keeping the sex ratio balanced is undoubtedly significant, 42 it is usually personalismu. [The Myth of Ontological Personalism.] Časopis zdravotnického práva a bioetiky. [The Journal of Medical Law and Bioethics]. (2017, Vol. 7, No. 3), pp. 49-66, ŠOLC, Martin. Reflections of Ethical Debate in the International Law Regulation of Stem Cell Research. In Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law. Česká ročenka mezinárodního práva veřejného a soukromého. Vol. 8. Česká společnost pro mezinárodní právo, Praha 2017, pp. 428-433. 37 See for example Paton v. the United Kingdom, (application no. 8416/79), the European Commission of Human Rights decision of 13 May 1980, or Vo v. France, (application no. 539/24/00), the ECtHR judgment of 8 July 2004, § 82. 38 MUIŽNIEKS, Nils. Sex-selective abortions are discriminatory and should be banned. Council of Europe. The Commissioner’s for Human Rights Comments. (15 January 2015.) accessed 15 May 2018. 39 Ibid. 40 For example, Rogers, Ballantyne and Draper argue that “the decision for a woman to seek SSA [sex-selective abortion] in cultures with strong son-preference cannot be regarded as autonomous on either a narrow or a broad account of autonomy” . See ROGERS, Wendy A., BALLANTYNE, Angela J., DRAPER, Heather. Is sex-selective abortion morally justified and should it be prohibited? Bioethics. (2007, Vol. 21, No. 9), p. 520. accessed 16 May 2018. However strong the arguments for this position may be, it is necessary to acknowledge that every human decision is influenced by the surrounding culture and the line between permissible and impermissible cultural influence (or between influence and indirect coercion) is blurred. That is not to say that cultural coercion never amounts to the elimination of autonomy; we would only like to stress the importance of a cautious approach to each case of cultural influence. 41 See e.g. ROGERS, Wendy A., BALLANTYNE, Angela J., DRAPER, Heather. Is sex-selective abortion morally justified and should it be prohibited? Bioethics. (2007, Vol. 21, No. 9), pp. 522-524. accessed 16 May 2018. 42 See for example A distorted sex ratio is playing havoc with marriage in China. The Economist. (23 November 2017.) accessed 16 May 2018, SRINIVASAN, Sharada, LI, Shuzhuo (eds.). Scarce Women and Surplace Men in China and India: Macro Demographics versus Local Dynamics. Springer International Publishing AG, Cham 2018.

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