Last week, the Federal
Supreme Court in Leipzig ruled in support of a Berlin gynecologist who had screened
embryos created during IVF for genetic defects prior to implanting them. This
is an important case in Germany, which has quite restrictive laws on
fertility treatments and bans embryo research (gated survey of IVF guidelines and regulations of sovereign nations or political subdivisions thereof). I previously blogged
about Germany’s strict embryo protection laws, which have caused some
researchers to move to other jurisdictions.
According to the Washington
Post:
The doctor had treated three couples between 2005 and 2006
who could not get pregnant naturally. In all three cases, one of the partners
carried the risk of a congenital genetic illness that would have "very
likely led to a miscarriage, the death of the newborn right after the delivery
or the birth of a critically ill child," the court wrote.
I previously blogged about PGD, embryo screening for sex
selection, and the surrounding ethical debates here.