[Editors’ note: Due to its large size, the HTML version – this version – of this article is published in two parts. This is Part II/II.]

D. The German Embryo Protection Act and the Stem Cell Act

The Embryo Protection Act,[48] which came into force on 1 January 1991, contains the following punishable acts in connection with embryo stem cell research:

▪  The in vitro fertilization of a woman who has donated an ovum for any other purpose but to induce a pregnancy (§ 1 Clause 1 no. 2). It is equally prohibited to fertilize ova which are not intended for implantation within one cycle (§ 1 Clause 1 no. 5).

▪  The artificial transfer of genetic information (cloning) of a human being, a dead human being, a foetus or an embryo to an(other) embryo (§ 6 Clause 1).

In § 8, the Act defines an embryo as “the fertilized human ovum which is capable of development after the nuclei have merged, also any totipotent cell extracted from an embryo capable – under the right circumstances – of dividing and developing into an individual.”[49]

Under these provisions, any type of stem cell research is prohibited because you always need to consume an embryo in order to create such stem cells. The same applies to the creation of tissue through therapeutic cloning.

The Embryo Protection Act is clearly based on the value judgment that an embryo, which has been created in vitro, must be consumed neither for research nor for therapeutic purposes, but must – in line with its natural “telos” – be given the chance instead of developing into a human being and of being born.[50] This value judgment also has the consequence that the import of embryo stem cells is always illegal, whether or not the consumption of embryos for research purposes is lawful in the stem cells’ country of origin. Since the Embryo Protection Act is a criminal law and as such subject to strict conditions –...