Beginning of being human

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
8-cell stage blastocyst

The beginning of being human is the subject of discussions in medical ethics as a branch of philosophy , law and religious teachings . The question of protection or the right to life is also attached to it, for example in the context of stem cell research , embryo research , abortions and late terminations .

The synonyms often include "fruit of the body", "developing life" and "human life". The beginning of the individual human life is seen predominantly with the fertilization of the egg cell and the associated formation of a new human being with its own genetic identity, which differs from that of the mother and the father.

In some cases, however, it is argued that not being human, but being a person should be used as the decisive criterion for the bearer of basic rights. In particular, in the decision Vo v France of the European Court of Human Rights, one reads the following passage:

... it may be regarded as common ground between States that the embryo / fetus belongs to the human race. The potentiality of that being and its capacity to become a person - enjoying protection under the civil law, moreover ... require protection in the name of human dignity, without making it a “person” with the “right to life” for the purposes of Article 2.

Having regard to the foregoing, the Court is convinced that it is neither desirable, nor even possible as matters stand, to answer in the abstract the question whether the unborn child is a person for the purposes of Article 2 of the Convention ("personne" in the French text).

The concept of the person as the bearer of basic rights is optionally linked to fertilization , the implantation of the egg in the uterus or, in a minority, to birth - and in some cases even to the acquisition of certain skills after birth (see right to life ) . The Federal Constitutional Court has expressly left this question open.

According to medical considerations, the criteria include individuality , according to philosophical standpoints the emergence of consciousness (which is countered by brain death as the end of human existence) and, according to some religious beliefs, ensouling .

The Warnock Report, which made a significant contribution to the legal regulation in Great Britain, deals with the position of an increasing need for protection ("graduate position"), but decided in favor of the potentiality argument.

Development steps

Among other things, the following developmental steps (which, however, proceed gradually and are therefore not caesura) can be observed in pregnancy :

time Biological aspects Legal Aspects Philosophical and religious considerations
1 day Fertilization (fertilization). The egg cell and sperm cell transform into a zygote . The Embryo Protection Act protects the “fertilized, viable human egg cell from the time of nuclear fusion”. The prerequisite for this is not that it actually develops further.
On October 18, 2011, the European Court of Justice ruled in the Brüstle case in connection with Directive 98/44 / EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions: “Every human egg cell from the fertilization stage, every unfertilized human egg cell into which a nucleus from a mature human cell has been transplanted, and every unfertilized human egg cell that has been stimulated to divide and develop further by parthenogenesis is a 'human embryo' within the meaning of Article 6 (2) (c) of the Directive. " 		For Hindus and Buddhists , the soul enters the embryo when the semen and egg cell fuse.
According to current Roman Catholic teaching , a person's life begins with fertilization. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote in 1987 ( Donum Vitae ): “Therefore, from the first moment of its existence, that is, from the formation of the zygote, the fruit of human procreation requires that unconditional respect that is morally owed to human beings in their physical and spiritual wholeness . ”Cardinal Karl Lehmann put it in 2013:“ But if the zygote develops continuously into newborns and adults, then the identity of this living being is preserved. If this living being is a human being in the adult state, then it is also a human being as an embryo. "
3rd day Beginning of cytokinesis (cell division). In the four- and eight-cell stage, each of the four or eight cells can become a person. An individual in the literal sense (in Latin the indivisible) does not yet exist. About 200 cells, which are of interest for stem cell research, develop in the blastocyst until they implant.
5th day Beginning of nidation . According to German law, the human embryo is now called the Latin nasciturus ("who will be born"). According to §§ 823 ff. BGB , he has tort law protection against prenatal damage.
If he was already conceived at the time of the inheritance , he can be an heir ( Section 1923 (2) BGB). The court can appoint a legal representative for him , the fruit keeper according to § 1912 BGB.
In 1975 the Federal Constitutional Court recognized the right to basic rights for Article 2, Paragraph 2, Sentence 1 and Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law .

It leaves open whether the Nasciturus himself is the holder of fundamental rights or only benefits from the objective legal content of the fundamental rights: “The duty of the state to protect every human life can therefore already be deduced directly from Article 2, Paragraph 2, Clause 1 of the Basic Law derive. It also results from the express provision of Article 1, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 of the Basic Law; for the developing life also takes part in the protection that Art. 1, Para. 1 GG grants to human dignity. Where human life exists, it has human dignity; it is not decisive whether the wearer is aware of this dignity and knows how to preserve it himself. The potential abilities laid out in human existence from the beginning are sufficient to establish human dignity. On the other hand, the question, which is controversial in the present proceedings, in the case law and in the scientific literature, does not need to be decided whether the nasciturus himself is a holder of fundamental rights or, because of a lack of legal capacity, `` only '' by the objective norms of the constitution in his right to life is protected. "

Furthermore, the Federal Constitutional Court writes: “When interpreting Article 2, Paragraph 2, Sentence 1 of the Basic Law, the wording: 'Everyone has the right to life ...' must be used as the starting point. According to certain biological-physiological knowledge, life in the sense of the historical existence of a human individual exists at least from the 14th day after conception (nidation, individuation) [...] The process of development that has begun is a continuous process that has no sharp cuts does not allow a precise delimitation of the various stages of development of human life. Nor does it end with birth; the phenomena of consciousness specific to the human personality z. B. occur a long time after birth. Therefore, the protection of Article 2, Paragraph 2, Clause 1 of the Basic Law can neither be limited to the 'finished' person after birth nor to the independently viable nasciturus. The right to life is guaranteed to everyone who 'lives'; No distinction can be made here between individual phases of developing life before birth or between unborn and born life. “Everyone” within the meaning of Article 2, Paragraph 2, Clause 1 of the Basic Law is “every living person”, in other words: every human individual who possesses life; 'Everyone' is therefore also the still unborn human being. "

14th day The primitive streak appears as the first perceptible structure of the embryo. The cluster of cells begins to differentiate. Up to this point in time, identical twins could develop (monochorionic-monoamniotic twins), which can be viewed as a lack of individuality . In 1984 English scientists suggested that embryo research be allowed up to this point in time.
30th day The philosopher Peter Singer argues that as long as the human embryo does not have the ability to feel pain , it cannot be harmed. Singer suggests the 28th day as a protective limit to protect an embryo from suffering: “Even if we all exercise the utmost caution, a 28-day limit would be sufficient to protect embryos from suffering from experiments. "
40th day In the Jewish tradition, an embryo is considered a fully-fledged human being from the 40th day of conception.
The Maliki school of law actually forbids any abortion in principle, but makes exceptions until the 40th day after conception. Deviating from this internationally influential follows International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Hanafi school of law that the souled people constitutes the beginning on the 120th day in the womb.
Until 1869 the concept of so-called successive ensouling was still in force in the Roman Catholic Church , in which Aristotle was cited, according to which the ensouling of humans represented a development that lasted 40 days for a male embryo and 80 days for a female embryo .

The different religious positions influence the national legislation for research on embryonic stem cells.

21st week Independent viability. From around the 21st week of pregnancy from fertilization (148th day) it is possible that the fetus will survive the premature birth with medical help in the incubator .
In the case of a late abortion, such as an abortion with an embryopathic indication , the situation can arise that the child that has been born is alive and needs to be cared for without first killing the embryo in the womb (see Oldenburg baby ).
The earliest surviving human being born in Europe (Frieda in the Fulda Clinic , November 7, 2010) was born as part of a premature birth after only 21 weeks and five days and weighed 460 g and was 26 cm tall. 		In Germany, Section 31 of the Civil Status Ordinance draws the line between miscarriage and stillbirth ( civil status ) with a body weight of at least 500 grams. With the reform of 2013 (Personal Status Amendment Act of May 7, 2013), there is the possibility of name certification in Germany and, associated with this, the improved possibility of burial of star children below this weight limit.

In 2005 the Federal Labor Court reaffirmed the special protection against dismissal for mothers; A child is given if the child weighs at least 500 grams, and it is irrelevant whether it is born alive or dead.

30th week (Viability of the child) The Prussian General Land Law already punished the termination of pregnancy from conception, but classified the threat of punishment on the basis of the 30th week of pregnancy, i.e. according to the child's viability.
birth Pregnancy lasts an average of 266 days (an average of 38 weeks from conception to birth). The legal capacity of every person begins with the completion of the birth. In Germany, the legal capacity is determined in § 1 BGB : "The legal capacity of a person begins with the completion of the birth." According to the prevailing opinion , Art. 7 EGBGB is understood in such a way that the term person in the sense of this regulation only includes born people.

Art. 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) focuses on birth: "All people are born free and equal with dignity and rights."

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ECHR, Vo v. France, §§ 84-85
  2. ↑ a b c d BVerfG, judgment of February 25, 1975, Az. 1 BvF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6/74, BVerfGE 39, 1 - Abortion I.
  3. ↑ a b Warnock et al: Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilization and Embryology. 1984 Report of the committee of inquiry into human fertilization and embryology ( Memento from May 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
  4. ^ Gregor Damschen , Dieter Schönecker : The moral status of human embryos: pro and contra species, continuum, identity and potentiality arguments. Walter de Gruyter, 2003, p. 73.
  5. ↑ ECJ, judgment of October 18, 2011, case C ‑ 34/10 full text
  6. ↑ Joseph Ratzinger: Donum vitae , February 22, 1987 vatican.va
  7. ^ Cardinal Karl Lehmann: Protection of life at the beginning and at the end. August 29, 2013 bistummainz.de
  8. ↑ Christian Kummer: On the discourse of assessing the beginning of human life, border crossing. In: Crossing Borders. Cultural, religious and political differences in the context of stem cell research worldwide. Agenda, Münster 2005, pp. 61–76.
  9. ↑ Karl Theodor Friedhoff : When does an embryo become a person? In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. December 2, 2007.
  10. ↑ Peter Singer: The ethics of embryo research. In: Enlightenment and Criticism . Journal for free thinking and humanistic philosophy. Special Issue No. 1/1995 The Ethics of Embryo Research ( Memento from July 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Christoph Rella: The search for a law for human existence. In: Wiener Zeitung . September 20, 2011 wienerzeitung.at
  12. ^ Institute for Islamic Issues of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany, Austria, Switzerland. islaminstitut.de ( Memento from December 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ^ Andreas Christ: Bioethics in interreligious discourse. ZIS forum dealt with fundamental questions of being human. University of Bamberg, as of 2014 uni-bamberg.de
  14. ^ Nils Fischer: The status of the embryo in Islam. Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 2014 kas.de
  15. ↑ Holger Haßmann: Embryo protection in the field of tension between international human rights, basic state rights and national regulatory models for embryo research. Springer, Berlin, 2003, ISBN 3-540-00025-9 , p. 72.
  16. ↑ Mathana Amaris Fiona Sivaraman, Siti Nurani Mohd Noor: Ethics of embryonic stem cell research according to Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic, and Islamic religions: perspective from Malaysia. In: Asian Biomedicine . Vol. 8, No. 1, February 2014, pp. 43-52, doi: 10.5372 / 1905-7415.0801.260 .
  17. ^ Tony Reichardt: Studies of Faith. In: Nature . No. 432, December 9, 2004, pp. 666-669. cecm.usp.br
  18. ↑ Jörn Perske: 21-week premature baby Frieda is awake. In: welt.de . March 1, 2014, accessed December 23, 2015 .
  19. ↑ BAG, judgment of December 15, 2005, Az. 2 AZR 462/04, full text .