Regulating Dangerous Futures: The German Embryo Protection Act of 1990 - Legislation in Risk Society

Abstract

This article summarises the outcome of a research project which analyses the legislative debate about the German Embryonenschutzgesetz (Embryo Protection Act) in 1990. From 1988 to 1990 the German Parliament discussed legislation for the practice of assisted contraception and embryo research. The term 'risk' is central to the discourse. For Ulrich Beck (1986) this emphasis on risk is a sign of the reflexivity which contemporary western societies have reached. This article reads back into the risk discourse the values hidden in risk terminology: they are identified as fears about modernisation processes. The focus on risk in this article allows observation of late modernity's unease about its own potential and a growing ambiguity about modern ideas of progress and control (Bauman, 1991). This ambiguity also becomes apparent in the strategies of policing which the German legislature offers as solutions to the perceived risks: different legislative strategies are developed to tackle the contradictory risk scenarios. These different strategies of policing are understood as the construction of 'places of safety' in the face of identified dangers: the 'traditional family', the 'good doctor', 'professional' judgement. Defining those boundaries allows the German legislature to juggle contradictory agendas. This explains the inconsistent and fragmented nature of the Embryo Protection Act 1990.

Borderlands of Life: IVF Embryos and the Law in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany

“…For the rest, the law still remained "fragmentary" as legal scholars noted (Günther, Taupitz, and Kaiser 2008, 107). Sidestepping numerous difficult issues of norms-making at the frontiers, such as the legitimacy of sperm donation or what constitutes a legitimate family, German law enabled the state, through its medical professionals, to keep assisted reproduction as close as possible to traditional family values (Augst 2000), while erecting high barriers against scientific research on embryos in the name of protecting human life and dignity (Beier and Beckman 1991).…”

When doctors shape policy: The impact of self‐regulation on governing human biotechnology

“…In addition, professional organizations failed to move away from their traditional reliance on expertise and open up to broader public concerns. This failure did not help in preventing the dissociation of human biotechnology in the political debate between legitimate treatments and illegitimate research (Augst ). The 1990 Embryo Protection Act anchors this distinction into state regulation.…”

“…The Warnock Committee did not completely succeed in appeasing these public concerns. The Committee's permissive recommendations drew strong opposition, notably moral objections regarding the legitimacy of embryo research, as well as medical intervention in the reproduction process (Mulkay ; Augst ). In 1985, the anti‐abortion mobilization, together with conservative forces in parliament, launched a private bill that affirmed the legal status of the embryo and banned research altogether.…”

Evaluation of PCR-based preimplantation genetic diagnosis applied to monogenic diseases: a collaborative ESHRE PGD consortium study

“…Reasons for this are mainly attributed to limited staff and/or funds, no access to untransferred spare embryos (relevant for most PGD centres offering 'transport' PGD), and in some countries, legislation which forbids biopsy of the embryo (eg in Germany). 5,6 As audit is invaluable, the primary objective of this multi-centre study was to identify the validity of PCR-based PGD by comparing results at the time of PGD with the results of the embryo follow-up analysis in a large cohort of samples. The secondary objective was to identify factors which may influence the validity of PCR-based PGD, including the embryo biology, the PCR-PGD genotyping strategies, the number of cells used in the PGD analysis, and the category of monogenic disease for which the PGD was applied.…”