Abstract
This note is concerned with the question currently facing the courts: once an embryo is frozen, what should become of it in a dispute over what should happen to it, and who has the right to make that decision? In addressing this question, this note will first establish the process through which frozen embryos are created, and the resulting dilemma of definitional problems among the medical and legal professions. Next the article will survey the current state of the law to discover how prenatal beings have been treated traditionally, how this should affect frozen embryo disposition, and how trends are developing in the law. The article will next lay out the moral and ethical concerns in the decision over how to deal with frozen embryos. Finally, the article will address the possibility of treating the frozen embryos as either life or property, and the ramifications of such a decision. It will also analyze the dispute over frozen embryos as one of a conflict between separate constitutional reproductive rights. It will conclude by examining the possibility of creating a separate body of law, free from traditional constraints.
Recommended Citation
Note, Frozen Embryos: What Are They and How Should the Law Treat Them, 38 Clev. St. L. Rev. 585 (1990)