ABSTRACT
In order to be able to make policy recommendations (lex ferenda), it is important not to limit the research to present international instruments, but to extend it to single countries where one may be able to discover helpful trends for the protection of the child in law. The first question to be raised is whether there is any regulatory infrastructure that acknowledges any rights to the pre-birth child, as a juridical person. One of the most thorough discussions of this question I have found is ‘Abortion and the Law’ by Dolores Dooley-Clark of Ireland. 1 It is not necessary to enter into the details of her argument, but it is important to acknowledge that, political correctness aside, strong arguments can be made and I will return to those points below.
