Reflections on human embryo research: the debate in Portuguese ethics organizations

This article analyzes the arguments used by Portuguese ethics organizations on to the regulation of human embryo research. Documents produced between 2006 and 2010 were collected and, based on thematic content analysis, the discursive strategies were studied from a semantic approach to data. The debate focused the status of abstract embryos (human being/person or biological artifact/laboratory neostructure) and the criteria that should guide best practices and balance expectations and risks on embryo research, in which heterogeneous arguments coexist based on principialist, secular and interventional bioethics. The perspectives of those who must decide the fate of real embryos should be incorporated into the discussion.

human embryo research; research ethics; social responsibility; Portugal

Authorship

Bruno Rodrigues Alves

Helena Machado

Susana Silva

SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Tables

Tables (3)

Thumbnail

Table 1
Classification of the status of the human embryo

Thumbnail

Table 2
Expectations and risks associated with human embryo research

Thumbnail

Table 3
Ethical principles in the regulation of human embryo research

Table 1 Classification of the status of the human embryo

Laboratory artifact	• “If [the product of somatic cell nuclear transfer] is considered an embryo, it cannot be used because this would constitute a violation of its intrinsic dignity... if it is considered a laboratory artifact, it can be used in biomedical research” ⁴ (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.3).

Biological neostructure	• “Research in cell reprogramming ... may permit the continuation of ongoing research with stem cells without the production of any new biological structure likely to be identified as a human embryo” (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.4).

Human being	• “All ‘human beings’ deserve to exist and require respect for their life even if embryonic” (CNECV, abr. 2007, p.1, statement by Michel Renaud).

	• “In this case [human cloning], the same principle prohibiting destructive research on embryos will be applied ... because experimentation on humans unable to consent is permissible only for their direct therapeutic benefit” (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.4, statement by Ramos Ascensão).

	• “Any legal document to be enacted should define the juridical status of the human embryo... any legislative solution on the matter will have to include a coherent, complete set of rules that thoroughly ensure human embryos the protection that the legislature deems necessary” (APB, 5 maio 2006, p.4).

Person	• “There is no single concept of a person in Portuguese society, but rather multiple concepts, some valuing belonging to the human species, others the ability to feel pain, yet others rationality... depending on the status of that person assumed at the philosophical level, different legal solutions for the status of the embryo in vitro will be proposed. ... Either you choose to assign personhood to the embryo and will not, as a rule, allow it to be lawfully destroyed, or you choose not to give it this status and its destruction may be considered perfectly lawful” (APB, 5 maio 2006, p.8-9).

Source: Compiled by the authors

Table 2 Expectations and risks associated with human embryo research

‘Slippery slope’	• “Allowing selecting of embryos for the benefit of others creates... a precedent that I consider irreversible and easily portable to different situations with ethically dubious purposes” (CNECV, abr. 2007, p.2 of Peter Fevereiro’s statement).

Prioritization	• “Non-embryonic stem cells... in addition to not offering major ethical problems, are the only type for which therapeutic applications already exist, and their harvesting is less expensive, so here too we face the issue of justice in the allocation of resources for health” (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.4 of Ramos Ascensão’s statement).

	• “There are other, clearly more important diagnosis and treatment modes, including cancer treatment or mandatory vaccination programs. Thus, we are of the opinion that these techniques should be included in the provision of public health only within the existing limits of human, material and technological resources” (APB, 5 maio 2006, p.15).

	• “The ethical value of the embryo [is] clearly superior to that of a gamete” (CNPMA, 16 jul. 2010, p.1).

Intentionality	• “If we allow research using surplus, in vitro, thawed embryos which are neither implanted nor implantable... why would it not be legitimate to use clones produced via somatic-cell nuclear transfer for research? The only difference here may lie in the intent and purpose for which the embryos are created: while surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection are not, a priori, intentionally made for research purposes, in the case of somatic-cell nuclear transfer this is the case” (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.2 of Miguel Oliveira da Silva’s statement).

	• “As long as cryopreserved embryos are available, it is not ethically acceptable to create new embryos” (CNPMA, 12 nov. 2010, p.1).

General consensus	• “There is still not a broad consensus in the scientific community and society in general on the use of embryonic stem cells in research or medical treatments” (CNECV, dez. 2007, p.5).

Source: Compiled by the authors

Table 3 Ethical principles in the regulation of human embryo research

Prevention against commercialization	• “[One of the] ethical problems ... inherent in the use of human biological material... [is] that it must not be sold” (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.3).

	• “The CNPMA ... recommends: not paying any compensation in cases of embryo donation” (CNPMA, 21 maio 2010, p.4).

Prevention against instrumentalization	• “The intentional production of embryos ... in order to select them to treat an illness in a family member corresponds to the instrumentalization of embryonic human life for the sake of the survival of another human, more-developed life” (CNECV, abr. 2007, p.2 of Maria do Céu Patrão Neves’ statement).

	• “Can this selection [of embryos for immunological compatibility with a sick sibling] be considered instrumentalization of the unborn child ...? It seems not, since the fact of its birth being ‘helpful’ to the health and life of his or her sibling does not mean that the child is not also desired for itself” (APB, 5 maio 2006, p.10).

Lesser evil	• “And it is a lesser evil ... that [the embryo] is part of a reproductive project rather than being annihilated” (CNECV, abr. 2007, p.3 of José de Oliveira Ascensão’s statement).

	• “In cases in which ... embryos can be thawed and disposed of, the Council sees no reason why these embryos cannot, during the elimination process, be used in assisted reproductive techniques and procedures” (CNPMA, 30 abr. 2010, p.1).

The embryo’s best interest	• “The best interest of the embryo is ensured ... [by providing] the possibility of subsequent uterine implantation. Other procedures do not ensure its best interests: for example, allowing its use for often destructive research purposes” (APB, 5 maio 2006, p.14).

Precaution	• “In ... the event of a lack of scientific and philosophical unanimity ... about the nature of the product of somatic cell nuclear transfer, one must apply the ethical precautionary principle” (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.3).

	• “I disagree in particular with the use of the ethical principle of precaution to try to discourage experimentation, in this case somatic cell nuclear transfer” (CNECV, abr. 2006, p.2 of Pedro Fevereiro’s statement).

Consent	• “Only surplus cryopreserved embryos may be used for scientific research, those for which there is no parental plan, with the prior, express, informed consent of the couples for whom the embryos were intended and when such use is part of a research project approved by the Council” (CNPMA, 30 abr. 2010, p.1).

How to cite

copy

Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Av. Brasil, 4365, 21040-900 , Tel: +55 (21) 3865-2208/2195/2196 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil
E-mail: hscience@fiocruz.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

Versão para download de PDF

PDF

Português
Inglês

Versões e tradução automática

Versão original do texto

English
Português

Tradução automática

Google Translator
Microsoft Translator

Como citar

RIS

BIBTEX

Outros formatos de citação e exportação:

SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online
Rua Dr. Diogo de Faria, 1087 – 9º andar – Vila Clementino 04037-003 São Paulo/SP - Brasil
E-mail: scielo@scielo.org

Leia a Declaração de Acesso Aberto

Métricas

Reflections on human embryo research: the debate in Portuguese ethics organizations

PlumX