Embryos and wrongful death lawsuits - the next tactic

[DanCa]

Subject: Embryo loss not wrongful death-CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

Embryo loss not wrongful death

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.28.2005

Appeals court: Doctors, hospitals are not liable
By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX - Doctors and hospitals that destroy or lose frozen embryos
can't be sued for wrongful death, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled
Thursday. In the precedent-setting opinion, the judges said an unimplanted embryo is not a "person" under state law. In fact, they said Arizona does not recognize personhood until a fetus reaches the point of viability - when it could survive on its own outside the womb. The judges refused, however, to decide when life actually begins. They said answering that question - something debated among doctors, scientists, ethicists and philosophers - is unnecessary to resolving the lawsuit before them.

In fact, the judges opted to use the term "pre-embryo" in the ruling
to describe the eight-cell, 3-day-old fertilized egg to specifically
avoid that controversy. But the legal decision is likely to become part of the ongoing debate about both the legality and morality of experimenting on embryonic stem cells. While the judges refused to let Belinda and William Jeter sue the Mayo Clinic for wrongful death, they did say the Jeters could pursue claims of loss of irreplaceable property, breach of fiduciary duty, and "bailment," - failure to return property. The Jeters sued after the clinic lost or destroyed some embryos the hospital was supposed to transfer to another doctor. Geoffrey Trachtenberg, the couple's lawyer, said it is also possible the clinic may have given the embryos to the wrong people, meaning
another couple gave birth to the Jeters' biological children.

Appellate Judge Donn Kessler, writing for the court, said some
statutes protect implanted embryos and fetuses. For example, he
said, it is a crime to knowingly or recklessly cause the death of an
unborn child in the womb; another statute requires that abortionists
try to preserve the life of a fetus that is delivered alive. But Kessler said the laws that allow civil suits presume that personhood begins at viability. And he said eight-cell cryopreserved pre-embryos stored in straws "are incapable of developing into children via an extrauterine process." And the judges refused to accept the Jeters' argument to extend protection of wrongful death laws to "potential viability," saying that decision is up to the Legislature and not the courts. Kessler also said allowing wrongful death lawsuits over unimplanted embryos presents special problems. For example, he said, it is unclear how long an embryo can survive in a frozen state.

"If the female donor decided she did not want another child, the
clinic would be faced with the dilemma of allowing the pre-embryos
to be irretrievably damaged by indefinite storage and face potential
liability for a wrongful death," Kessler wrote. Thursday's ruling does not alarm John Jakubczyk, attorney for Arizona Right to Life, despite the court's conclusion that an unimplanted embryo is not a person. Jakubczyk said the right to sue is strictly created by the
Legislature. As such, he said, lawmakers are free to determine for
purposes of a wrongful death suit when an embryo becomes a person.

[MN ChimpH8R]

1. Sounds like a well-reasoned opinion

It will drive the fundies berserk. Watch the legislature do something stupid.

[NAO]

2. Abortionists charged with first degree murder is the Theocratic endgame

I think that if the "people of faith" are allowed to continue to legislate their religious superstition, the final endgame will be to declare abortion to be murder. Not just "morally" but in the full legal sense.

One could speculate that in some future time, when a pregnancy is confirmed, the zygote is given a Social Security number and declared to be a United States Citizen, with full rights of citizenship.

If someone fled to another country to have an abortion performed, a "missing person report" could be filed on the zygote. The person who left the country with two "people" and came back with one would be treated the same way as someone who left with a 3 year old and came back without their child.

[DanCa]

3. They also want to make it a crime that if you get treated via therapy

outside the states you can't reenter the country. I was wondering if there are any DU Lawyers willing to help me sue these bastards for keeping my body ravaged with parkinsons.?

[DanCa]

4. kick for the evening crowd.

:kick: