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Chapter1.melegalstatusofhumanlife…
oftenthecasethat,forsome,thisverysamefactwillbedecisiveintheir
grantingahumanembryotheoIcialstatusofhumanbeing,whereas
forothers,thefactthatanindividualhasalreadybegunitsdevelopment
willremainirrelevant.
However,theabovearrayofvariousinterpretationsofthemedi-
caldatatohand,aswellasitssignificanceasregardsthestatusofthe
developingindividualdo,innoway,discredittheimportanceofbio-
medicalscience.Itwouldbemistakentoassumethatthetaskofthe
aforementionedscientificdomainwastoformulateontologicalreason-
ing,andevenlesssotocreatelegalnormssurroundingthestatusof
humanlifeinitsprenatalphase.Forcenturies,thoseresponsiblefor
providinganswerstothosequestionspertainingtotheexactnatureof
existencewerephilosophers,notdoctors.Inasimilarmanner,itisnot
thoserepresentingthebiomedicalscienceswhoareinanywaythose
Kpredestined’tobethesolearchitectsoflegalaxiomsinthematterof
thevariousobligationswhichnascentlifeencompasses,althoughit
goeswithoutsayingthatitispreciselythosefromwithinthisparticular
fieldofsciencewhowillendupbeingtheguardiansofthisnascentlife
hereinquestion.
mefactthatthebiomedicalsciencesdonotpossesstherightto
formulatethephilosophicalandlegalmake-upofaxiomsdoes,however,
notleadustoconcludethatanysuchjudgementscaninanywaybe
appropriatelyestablishedwithoutconsideringthesignificantmedicalac-
complishmentsofthisverydomainofscience.Onthecontrary:justas
thehistoriesofbothphilosophyandlawhaveshown,thoseconstructs
whichbeststandthetestoftimearethosesameoneswhichtakeinto
accounttheconsiderationsofthenaturalsciences.Asanexample,the
Aristoteliantheoryofprenataldevelopment,largelytheresultoffirst-
handobservation,wasdominantuntilthe17thcentury,atatimewhen
thevastmajorityofEuropeanlegalregulations(amongstwhichonemay
placecanonicallawsregardingtheinterruptionofpregnancy)tookinto
accountappositedescriptions,aslaidoutbyAristotle;lawupuntilthe
18thcenturyaccordedincrementallevelsoflegalolencetotheKmodifier’
ofanypregnancy,basedupontheaboveAristoteliandescriptionsofthe
