Strained Application of the Viability Standard to In Vitro Frozen Embryos - Deconstructing Jeter v. Mayo Clinic Arizona
Strained Application of the Viability Standard to In Vitro Frozen Embryos - Deconstructing Jeter v. Mayo Clinic Arizona
Brock J. Heathcotte, Esq., 5 Ind. Health L. Rev. 251 (2008)
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Recently, in the case of Jeter v. Mayo Clinic Arizona, one court undertook this challenge to define human life based on some aspects of developmental biology, but failed to use this analysis for any legal purpose. While the Jeter court managed to avoid controversy without applying the relevant science, it failed to address the issue of great importance posed by the case-were cryogenically preserved human embryos living human beings whose lives are protected by law? The Jeter court’s reluctance to answer the fundamental legal question posed by advancing technological proficiency in manipulation of human embryos was justified by passing the question to the Arizona Legislature.
Legislatures have not been as reluctant to take a position on when life begins and have in many instances enacted laws protecting human life from conception. Further complicating this discussion, at least one court appeared willing to allow a jury to decide when life begins before being reversed on appeal. This development will likely make the application of legal rules in this area less coherent and will create further ambiguity in defining when life begins.