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Comparing Non-Medical Sex Selection and Saviour Sibling Selection in the Case of JS and LS v Patient Review Panel: Beyond the Welfare of the Child?
- Source :
-
Journal of bioethical inquiry [J Bioeth Inq] 2018 Mar; Vol. 15 (1), pp. 139-153. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Feb 02. - Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- The national ethical guidelines relevant to assisted reproductive technology (ART) have recently been reviewed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The review process paid particular attention to the issue of non-medical sex selection, although ultimately, the updated ethical guidelines maintain the pre-consultation position of a prohibition on non-medical sex selection. Whilst this recent review process provided a public forum for debate and discussion of this ethically contentious issue, the Victorian case of JS and LS v Patient Review Panel (Health and Privacy) [2011] VCAT 856 provides a rare instance where the prohibition on non-medical sex selection has been explored by a court or tribunal in Australia. This paper analyses the reasoning in that decision, focusing specifically on how the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal applied the statutory framework relevant to ART and its comparison to other uses of embryo selection technologies. The Tribunal relied heavily upon the welfare-of-the-child principle under the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (Vic). The Tribunal also compared non-medical sex selection with saviour sibling selection (that is, where a child is purposely conceived as a matched tissue donor for an existing child of the family). Our analysis leads us to conclude that the Tribunal's reasoning fails to adequately justify the denial of the applicants' request to utilize ART services to select the sex of their prospective child.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Australia
Child
Choice Behavior
Dissent and Disputes
Ethics, Medical
Family
Family Characteristics
Female
Gender Identity
Human Rights
Humans
Law Enforcement
Legislation, Medical
Male
Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ethics
Sex Preselection ethics
Thinking
Tissue Donors
Child Welfare
Ethics Committees
Parents psychology
Reproductive Techniques, Assisted legislation & jurisprudence
Sex Preselection legislation & jurisprudence
Siblings
Tissue and Organ Procurement ethics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1872-4353
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of bioethical inquiry
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 29396799
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-018-9838-9