人类胚胎的民法地位刍议

人工生殖技术、干细胞研究和人类基因复制的发展,使人类胚胎的伦理与法律地位日益受到关注。我国社会主流伦理观念对胚胎享有人的地位持否定观点,当前在制定民法典的探讨中主要学说也未给予胚胎以独立的地位,而是作为与人体分离的组织定位为特殊的物。有关胚胎法律地位的"人"的模式不足取,但"物"的模式也面临着困境。我国民法典应当回应科技发展的要求,重新审视胚胎的法律定位,通过分阶段模式保护胚胎的合法权益,并从民法理论与立法两方面探索在人与物之间建立中间存在模式的可能性。

On the Legal Status of Human Embryo in Civil Law

The development of artificial reproduction technology,embryonic stem cell research and human gene duplication in recent decades has generated passionate social debate about the moral and legal status of human embryo.In China,the dominating opinion denies the embryo as a "person".Therefore,the majority in the debate of Chinese civil law codifying gives no independent legal status to the embryo.Instead,it is treated as a kind of "property" separated from human body.It is not acceptable to treat the embryo merely as a property;meanwhile an adoption of a person status for the embryo can be replete with difficulties.The dramatic development of bio-technology should be considered in our coming civil code.Therefore,research should be done to rethink the embryo's legal status,to protect the embryo's interests by a stage-model and to explore the possibility of conferring an interim category between "person" and "property" in our civil law theory and legislation.