Maio Giovanni
Center of Ethics and Law Medicine, University of Freiburg, Elsaesser Strasse 2m, la, D-79110 Freiburg, Germany.
J Med Philos. 2004 Oct;29(5):583-602. doi: 10.1080/03605310490518096.
While many European countries are entering unknown legal terrain where the embryo in vitro is concerned, France can already look back on a long tradition of public discussion and legal codification of ways of dealing with in vitro embryos. In its comprehensive law of 1994, France had still rejected embryo research; however, due to the promising perspectives of stem cell research, the new law now pending implies a clear liberalization of the 1994 provisions. Both the French lawmakers and the National Ethics Commission have repeatedly argued that possible utilization of embryos for research purposes may seem legitimate from the moment that there is no more "parental project." De facto, this concept implies that an embryo can be transformed into an object from the moment that the parents cease to desire it and that the value of protection is solely dependent on the will of third persons. At the same time, France is still speaking of guaranteeing respect for the "dignity of the embryo," which would mean that an embryo must not be reduced to a thing and treated for purposes which are not his own. Therefore, the French solution is not a consistent and honest solution, and in its new legal provisions, France has involved herself in manifold contradictions. France has rejected the conception of pre-embryo, but is de facto following Britain's model without making it explicit.
当许多欧洲国家在涉及体外胚胎的问题上踏入未知的法律领域时，法国回顾其在公众讨论和体外胚胎处理方式的法律编纂方面有着悠久的传统。在1994年的综合法律中，法国仍拒绝胚胎研究；然而，由于干细胞研究前景广阔，目前正在审议的新法律意味着对1994年条款的明显放宽。法国立法者和国家伦理委员会都一再辩称，从不再有“生育计划”那一刻起，将胚胎用于研究目的可能看似合理。事实上，这一概念意味着，从父母不再想要这个胚胎的那一刻起，胚胎就可以变成一个物品，其保护价值仅取决于第三方的意愿。与此同时，法国仍在谈论保障对“胚胎尊严”的尊重，这意味着胚胎绝不能被降格为物品并被用于非其自身的目的。因此，法国的解决方案并非一个前后一致且诚实的方案，在其新的法律条款中，法国陷入了诸多矛盾之中。法国拒绝了前胚胎的概念，但实际上却在效仿英国模式而未明确承认。
