3 September 2012
Italy has violated the rights of a couple carrying cystic fibrosis by preventing
them from screening embryos using PGD, the European Court of Human Rights
(ECtHR) has ruled. The Strasbourg-based court ordered the Italian Government to pay the couple €17,500 in damages and expenses.
Rosetta Costa and Walter Pavan found out that they were both healthy
carriers of cystic fibrosis when they gave birth to a daughter with the
condition in 2006. In 2010, the couple terminated another pregnancy on medical
grounds when the fetus was found to have cystic fibrosis.
The couple decided to have a second child using IVF with the intention of
screening the embryos} using PGD to select an embryo without the
condition. However, Italy is one of the few European countries, along with
Austria and Switzerland, which prohibits the technique. The couple argued this
prohibition interfered with their right to respect for their private and family
life under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Italy argues that its laws protect the health of women and children and
discourage deliberate 'eugenic abuse'. However, the ECtHR ruled that the
privacy rights of the couple trump that concern. The Court also said that the
case highlights 'the incoherence of the Italian legislative system that bans
the implantation of only healthy embryos while allowing the abortion of
fetuses with genetic conditions'.
The law 'only gives the plaintiffs one option, full of anxiety and suffering',
it said.
The Italian Government said on Wednesday that it was likely to appeal the
ruling. However, Antonio Di Pietro, head of an opposition party, Italy of
Values, said that Italy needed a new law that 'gives the right to have
preliminary genetic analysis of an embryo not just for sterile couples but also
to fertile couples suffering from hereditary diseases such as sickle cell anaemia
and cystic fibrosis'.
The case is Costa and Pavan v. Italy (application no. 54270/10).
SOURCES & REFERENCES
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Codex Online
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28 August 2012
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Catholic Culture
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28 August 2012
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Reuters
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28 August 2012
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AFP
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29 August 2012
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Gazzetta del sud
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29 August 2012
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Gazzetta del sud
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28 August 2012
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