Bioethics and human rights in international law: genetic engineering, euthanasia and/or physician assisted suicide

Medical advancements and improved scientific knowledge has introduced various benefits to society, while also creating contentious debates and issues concerning the impacts these medical advancements and/or procedures have had on human rights. In particular, the impact on human rights that medical and scientific advancements have arisen in regards to specific forms of genetic engineering, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. This dissertation is aimed at specifically focusing on the dichotomy of ideologies and legislation concerning the rights to human dignity and privacy in relation to the medical advancements involving genetic engineering, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Genetic engineering is broadly considered to be an umbrella term that comprises various medical technologies, including preimplantation and prenatal genetic testing and selection, as well as genetic editing. Preimplantation and prenatal genetic testing enables the detection of a disease or defective condition of an embryo or foetus, while genetic editing enables the alteration of an embryo or foetuses genes to remove mutations or defective conditions to improve the overall living condition of the embryo when it is born. These different practices within the broad realm of genetic engineering use medical technologies to essentially “pick and choose” what physical and medical traits an individual should bear, in an attempt to avoid offspring with serious illnesses or unwanted conditions that could potentially cause the individual a lifetime of suffering. Although it is important to note that genetic engineering has also confronted a plethora of ethical and legal objections, a specific form of medical technology within the broad framework of genetic engineering, specifically preimplantation and prenatal genetic testing, is still generally more accepted on a global scale, both by society and by legislatures, than the practices of genetic editing or euthanasia and/or physician-assisted suicide, which aims to restore an individual's ...