ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses legislative approaches of the new reproductive technologies in European countries. The birth of the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) child in 1978 provided the stimulus for activity in a number of countries to consider the ethics of human embryo research and the clinical use of IVF. The route to legislation has varied from country to country but the principal focus has been the status of the human embryo and the ethics of human embryo research. Some countries have national ethics committees, standing bodies who are charged with giving opinions on biomedical issues. The legislation enacted in Europe falls into a few categories and the chapter explains these in detail. In 1999, the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine had been signed by 28 Member States and ratified by six countries. Of those countries which have ratified the Convention, Denmark, Greece, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, only two, Denmark and Spain have legislation on assisted conception.
