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The Beginning of Human Life pp 57–70Cite as

The Moral Significance of Brain-Life Criteria

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Abstract

While many moral and medical challenges at the end of life have found wide consensus on brain-based criteria for death, the abortion issue still causes great personal and societal moral uncertainties and conflicts. It was Andre Hellegers (1970) who stressed that

it is not a function of science to prove, or disprove, where in this process [fetal development] human life begins, in the sense that those discussing the abortion issue so frequently use the word “life,” i.e., human dignity, human personhood, or human inviolability. Such entities do not pertain to the science or art of medicine, but are rather of societal judgement.

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Authors
  1. Hans-Martin Sass
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Iowa, USA

    Fritz K. Beller  & Robert F. Weir  & 

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Sass, HM. (1994). The Moral Significance of Brain-Life Criteria. In: Beller, F.K., Weir, R.F. (eds) The Beginning of Human Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8257-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8257-5_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4247-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8257-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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