The Legality of Scientific Medical Experiments on Aborted Fetuses in Islamic Jurisprudence and Positive Law
Dr. Youssef Boshi
Lecturer (A) – Private Law – Faculty of Law and Political Science Ibn Khaldoun University – Tiaret – Algeria
Abstract:
The development of curative and non-curative medical interventions of scientific proportions has changed many details in traditional general medical rules. Medical experiments or scientific research included all fields, including the dissection of the human body for scientific purposes. This matter is not only limited to the human corpse, for which the subject of scientific anatomy may suffice, but rather includes any deceased person, including aborted fetuses to be part of medical experiments for scientific or therapeutic purposes.
Hence, the topic of scientific experiments on aborted fetuses raises many questions, perhaps the most important of which is the extent to which dead or aborted fetuses are considered the subject of scientific experiments from the legal and Sharia standpoint. This research reviews the position on these experiences based on the reference legal texts represented in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and in Islamic jurisprudence in its various doctrines, then in positive law represented by comparative laws, UAE law and Algerian law, by adopting the analytical and comparative approach in some jurisprudential and legal issues. The research concluded with several results, the most prominent of which is that medical experiments have gained legitimacy, whether in Islamic jurisprudence or in comparative statutory laws, and they can be applied on aborted fetuses according to regulations. The research also concluded with a recommendation to the Algerian legislator in particular, and the Arab and Islamic in general to disclose the position on these issues in a detailed and comprehensive manner.
Keywords: medical anatomy, dead fetus, aborted fetus, medical ethics, biological experiments.