ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relationships between the two issues (embryo and ethical pluralism), and clarifies how and why the spread of ethical pluralism in contemporary western societies is going to change the perception of the human embryo. It then argues that contemporary emphasis on the status of the embryo is a disguised way of hiding a deeper problem concerning different principles which have to identify more clearly. The chapter also shows that the so-called issue of the "right-to-life" (or of the "status of the embryo") is irrelevant to the controversy. The real issue at stake is not whether the embryo has an alleged "right-to-life" from conception, but whether there is or is not an absolute prohibition to interferring and controlling human reproduction. It is at this point that the issue of ethical pluralism becomes relevant.
