Wrongful birth and wrongful life : legal and moral issues

Abstract

Wrongful birth and wrongful life claims have been presented in law courts for the past eight decades around the world, starting from the United States and moving on to Europe. The immediate and rapid advances of biotechnology during the years have made it difficult for the law, public policy and ethics to keep abreast with the continuous changes. The main aim of this research is to dicuss the different cases of wrongful birth and wrongful life in EU member states and how different countries deal with these claims in law courts. One of the main questions dealt with in this research is: to be or not to be born? Chapter I delves deeply into the issue; whether it is better for an individual to be born with disability or not born at all. In wrongful birth and wrongful life cases, the plaintiffs stress that had it not been for the negligence of the medical professional and/or the clinic/hospital, they would have not brought the pregnancy to term and probably would have opted for abortion. Wrongful birth and wrongful life cases in EU member states have developed throughout the years and these are discussed in depth in Chapter II. It seems that these cases are promoting the devaluation of life with disability, especially when courts decide to compensate the parents or disabled persons for damages. This idea is contrary to the notion of human dignity and the sanctity of human life and existence is being considered as an injury rather than a gift. The birth of a child is no longer a blessing but it has become a liability if the new-born is not the ‘perfect’ baby. The final two chapters tackle different issues, namely: the issue of morality and public policy, and the psychological and emotional consequences that children involved in these cases go through. Conceptual models of disability are changing through time, and justice, human nature and moral progress have to go hand in hand to promote a culture of life.