Danubius International Conferences, 17th International Conference on European Integration - Realities and Perspectives

Between the Right to Life of the Unborn Child and the Right to Dispose of the Pregnant Woman's Own Body

Nelu Gheorghita
Last modified: 2022-04-18

Abstract

The spectacular evolution of genetics and medicine in the twentieth century has led to the recognition and defense of some initially controversial rights from a medical, ethical, religious and legal point of view.

These rights, grouped under the general name of personality rights, are governed by the principle of the inviolability of the human being and the right to self-determination, which are, in fact, two parts of the same idea.

The principle of inviolability presupposes the absence of any harm or interference with the human being, regardless of who is its author, for example, the right to life of the fetus, and the rightto self-determination refers to the possibility of refusing any physical or other harm such as and to decide on any procedure that involves or affects his body.

The questions we wiil try to answer are the following:”Where does the right to dispose of the pregnant woman’s own body begin and where does the right to life of the fetus end? Is the fetus a part of the pregnant woman’s body or is it human being?”

In the context of the development of these rights, the intervention of the legislator has become indispensable in order to establish the general conditions and the limits of their application.