Cryopreservation and current legal problems: seeking and selling immortality.

Cryonics, the 'freezing' of the human body after death in the hope of reanimation in the future, remains a remote possibility, and yet it is becoming a more popular choice. There has been much academic discussion of the ethics of cryopreservation; however, the legal problems have received little attention. There are, however, several potential current conflicts that might arise, as was illustrated by the case of in England, in which a 14-year-old girl who sought cryopreservation against her father's wishes.

The Excessive Regulation of Early Abortion Medication in the UK: The Case for Reform.

Early medical abortion (EMA) involves the administration of two medications-mifepristone and misoprostol-24-48 hours apart. These routinely used medications are recognised as safe and effective by the World Health Organization which recommends this combination of medications as a safe form of abortion until nine weeks' gestation. Despite the safety and effectiveness of this drug regimen, there exists excessive regulation around EMA.

Surrogacy and uterus transplantation using live donors: Examining the options from the perspective of 'womb-givers'.

For females without a functioning womb, the only way to become a biological parent is via assisted gestation-either surrogacy or uterus transplantation (UTx). This paper examines the comparative impact of these options on two types of putative 'womb-givers': people who provide gestational surrogacy and those who donate their uterus for live donation. The surrogate 'leases' their womb for the gestational period, while the UTx donor donates their womb permanently via hysterectomy.

Reviewing the womb.

Throughout most of human history women have been defined by their biological role in reproduction, seen first and foremost as gestators, which has led to the reproductive system being subjected to outside interference. The womb was perceived as dangerous and an object which husbands, doctors and the state had a legitimate interest in controlling. In this article, we consider how notions of conflict surrounding the womb have endured over time.

Gross Negligence (Medical) Manslaughter and the Puzzling Implications of Negligent Ignorance: Rose v R [2017] EWCA Crim 1168.

This commentary explores the Court of Appeal's decision in the case of Rose1 in order to assess the risk of liability for gross negligence manslaughter currently faced by the medical profession in the event that negligence causes the death of a patient. Subtly modifying the test established in Adomako,2Rose confirms that in order to be potentially liable, there must be a serious risk of death that was, rather than ought to have been, obvious/foreseeable to the defendant. Consequently, in more complex cases where the serious risk of death is not immediately obvious, negligently failing to assess risk seems to prevent potential liability on the basis that the putative defendant was in a position of negligent ignorance.

The value of life in English law: revered but not sacred?

sanctity inviolability , . , , reverence for life, . reverence .

Voices of discontent? Conscience, compromise, and assisted dying.

If some form of assisted dying is to be legalised, we are likely to hear voices of discontent, not least from the medical profession and some of its members, who might be expected to provide the service. The profession generally favours a position of opposition, premised on an ethic of 'caring not killing', which might be said to convey its 'professional conscience'. There will, of course, also be individual conscientious objectors.

Best interests and the sanctity of life after W v M.

The case of W v M and Others, in which the court rejected an application to withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration from a woman in a minimally conscious state, raises a number of profoundly important medico-legal issues. This article questions whether the requirement to respect the autonomy of incompetent patients, under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, is being unjustifiably disregarded in order to prioritise the sanctity of life. When patients have made informal statements of wishes and views, which clearly--if not precisely--apply to their present situation, judges should not feel free to usurp such expressions of autonomy unless there are compelling reasons for so doing.

Pushing the boundaries of lawful assisted dying in The Netherlands? Existential suffering and lay assistance.

Two matters that have a significant presence in the contemporary Dutch assisted dying debate, are the nature of the suffering required for an assisted death to be lawful, and the issue of who can lawfully assist. This article explores whether the lawful medical assisted dying model is too restrictive in failing to recognise existential suffering, considering selected case studies involving such suffering and lay assisted death. It addresses the question whether The Netherlands would take a trip down a slippery slope if the lawful model of assisted death were extended to cases where individuals are 'tired of life'.