Abstract
In July 1994 three bioethics laws were passed in France which attempted to resolve the moral and legal dilemmas arising from the New Reproductive Technologies (NRTs). A particularly troubling issue for French legislators was the status of the human embryo and its ensuing rights. Was the human embryo a person or a thing? Article 8 of law 94-654 on donation and assisted conception left this unclear, particularly in relation to embryo research. Unfortunately, regulatory decrees published in May 1997 on embryo research and prenatal diagnosis constitute an unsuccessful attempt at further clarification of the issue. Lawyers, clinicians and embryo rights activists alike may justifiably denounce them as a mere fudge.
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