OBJECTIVE After the introduction of assisted reproductive techniques, human embryos were officially introduced into laboratories and now thousands of them are cryopreserved in such settings. Embryonic stem cells and the future application of such cells in the treatment of disease opened the door to further research on human embryos. These developments raise many ethical issues, some of which ha...

all schools of islamic jurisprudence regard abortion as wrong and forbidden and allow abortion only before the stage of ensoulment, if the continuation of pregnancy would endanger the mother's life or put her into intolerable difficulties. in this article we describe and assess the viewpoint of shiite jurisprudence toward abortion. using a selected collection of related references, and discussi...

Abortion in Pagan context Often abortion is regarded as a contemporary issue only. However, even before the birth of Christ, in Greek and Roman society abortion was commonplace. Christianity developed in a largely pagan society. In an attempt to understand Christian feelings and attitudes, we first need to observe abortion in its pagan context. Abortion appears to have been practised extensivel...

objective: after the introduction of assisted reproductive techniques, human embryos were officially introduced into laboratories and now thousands of them are cryopreserved in such settings. embryonic stem cells and the future application of such cells in the treatment of disease opened the door to further research on human embryos. these developments raise many ethical issues, some of which h...

Research into human development involves the use of human embryos and their derivative cells and tissues. How religions view the human embryo depends on beliefs about ensoulment and the inception of personhood, and science can neither prove nor refute the teaching of those religions that consider the zygote to be a human person with an immortal soul. This Spotlight article discusses some of the...

Most believe the beginning of an individual human life to occur at the later stages of pregnancy while some believe embryo to be a fully human person and like a citizen having every right. Thus killing a recently fertilized embryo is considered to be a murder by many religious groups. (1,2) The embryo from its beginning is cellular and alive but the question stays that being cellular does the e...

The rapidly changing technologies that involve human subjects raise complex ethical, legal, social, and religious issues. Recent advances in the field of cloning and stem cell research have introduced new hopes for the treatment of serious diseases. But this promise has raised many complex questions. This field causes debate and challenge, not only among scientists but also among ethicists, rel...

It is difficult to harmonise faith and the desire to follow religious teachings and obligations on the one hand, and scientific advances and their use for the benefit of suffering humanity on the other. This is an especially delicate matter for patients and health professionals in reproductive medicine. It deals with the conflicting issues of contraception, termination of pregnancy, assisted re...