The protection of unborn life in the legal systems of selected European countries

Abstract

Thesis: The article seeks to determine - from the examples of the three largest European
economies - whether economic development is linked to the development of
a liberal or more restrictive social policy on the protection of unborn life. The accepted
thesis is that: 1) the common direction for all analysed cases is the liberalization of the
law; 2) the protection of unborn life in Germany, France and Great Britain is not wide
enough to provide the necessary protection for the unborn.
Discussed concepts: The article contains an analysis of the legal acts and case law
of Germany, France and Great Britain concerning the protection of unborn life.
Results and conclusions: In both Germany, Great Britain and France, one common
direction for the development of the social sphere is adopted. It can be defi ned as the
systematic progressive liberalization of legal regulations in the fi eld of legal protection
of unborn life. This corresponds to the gradual widening of the protection of the rights
of pregnant women and the use of medically assisted procreation procedures using
public funds. The second conclusion is the observation that the scope of protection of
conceived life in the countries concerned is not wide enough to provide the necessary
protection for unborn children, in line with those tendencies which are characteristic
for, for example, Poland and several other EU states.
Originality/cognitive value of the approach: There has been no comparative study
in the Polish scientifi c literature comparing the legal protection of the unborn life of
the three largest European economies to the question of the direction in which social
policy is pursued. The article also lays out a gap in discussing the scope of protection
of unborn life in Germany, France and Great Britain with a view to providing the necessary
protection for unborn children.
Key words: the protection of unborn life, in vitro, Germany, France, Great Britain