A Womb of One’s Own? – The Legal Implications of Ectogenesis A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Master of Philosophy in the Faculty of Law 2013 Amy Victoria Rollings School of Law 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ 2 Table of cases ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Table of Legislation and Similar Instruments ........................................................................ 7 Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Declaration ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Copyright Statement ...................................................................................................................... 11 Dedication and Acknowledgments .......................................................................................... 12 Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 13 1.1 Tomorrow’s Politics - Why Now? ........................................................................................... 14 1.2 ‘First of all, do no harm’ .......................................................................................................... 16 1.3 Definitional Issues .................................................................................................................... 17 1.4 Chapter Outline ........................................................................................................................ 18 1.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 22 Chapter Two: The Road to Ectogenesis ................................................................................. 23 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 23 2.2 Rationale for primary legislation on ectogenesis ..................................................................... 26 2.3 IVF Technology - too big a risk? ............................................................................................. 30 2.4 ‘Test-tube Babies’: A Cause for Concern? .............................................................................. 31 2.5 Early IVF Legislation ............................................................................................................... 35 2.5.1 The Warnock Report ......................................................................................................... 36 2.6 Assessing the harms of ectogenic research .............................................................................. 37 2.7 How can we begin human research into ectogenesis (If allowed to go ahead at all)? ............. 41 2.7.1 From Animal Research to Human Embryos ..................................................................... 42 2.7.2 Would research towards ectogenesis be ethical? .............................................................. 44 2.7.3 Risk versus benefit ............................................................................................................ 46 2.7.4 Ectogenic Research: Moving Beyond Fourteen Days ...................................................... 50 2.7.5 A New Warnock Committee for Ectogenesis? ................................................................. 55 2.8 Research on the living ex utero foetus ..................................................................................... 55 2.8.1 Foetuses in research .......................................................................................................... 56 2.8.2 Foetuses in utero ............................................................................................................... 58 2.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter Three ................................................................................................................................... 62 Square pegs and round holes? – Viability and Birth for the Ectogenic Foetus ..... 62 PART I: Viability ........................................................................................................................... 65 3.1 Foetal Viability: A Legal Analysis .......................................................................................... 67 3.2 Medical Viability ..................................................................................................................... 70 3.3 When is the ectogenic foetus ‘viable’? .................................................................................... 71 3.4 Is Louise ‘viable’? .................................................................................................................... 74 PART II: Birth ............................................................................................................................... 75 3.5 When is the ectogenic foetus ‘born alive’? .............................................................................. 79 3.6 When is Louise ‘born alive’? ................................................................................................... 82 2 3.7 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 83 Chapter Four: Square Pegs and Round Holes – Switching off the Ectogenic Chamber .............................................................................................................................................. 85 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 85 4.2 The Law on Abortion: The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 ........................................ 88 4.3 The Abortion Act 1967 ............................................................................................................ 90 4.3.1 Abortion Act 1967 s.1(1): ‘...a pregnancy is terminated...’ .............................................. 90 4.4 Foetal Rights and the Female Body ......................................................................................... 93 4.4.1 A Foetal Right to Life? – Vo v France .............................................................................. 94 4.4.2 Context is Everything: Nothing and ‘Not Nothing’ .......................................................... 96 4.5 The ‘point of no return’ model ............................................................................................... 100 4.5.1 Pre-and Post-Conception Arrangements: A Panacea? .................................................... 103 4.5.2 A B and C: ‘This is not a case of dry legal contract’ ...................................................... 106 4.5.3 Exceptions to the ‘point of no return’ rule: The Disabled Foetus ................................... 107 4.6 Can Louise be ‘switched off’? ............................................................................................... 114 4.7 Parental Responsibility: who is the legal mother or father of the ectogenic child? ............... 117 4.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 120 Chapter Five: Drafting a regulatory framework for the development of ectogenesis ...................................................................................................................................... 122 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 122 5.2 Legal Elements of the Proposal ............................................................................................. 123 5.2 Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 123 5.2.1 (1) Stage I ........................................................................................................................ 124 5.2.2 Stage II ............................................................................................................................ 125 5.3 Chronological timeline of the embryo and foetal status: ....................................................... 126 5.3.1 Implantation .................................................................................................................... 126 5.3.2 From implantation to the twenty-third week of gestation ............................................... 127 5.3.3 Viability .......................................................................................................................... 127 5.3.4 Birth ................................................................................................................................ 127 5.3.5