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Les fondements éthiques des discours juridiques sur le statut de la vie humaine anténatale

This book is based on the author's doctoral thesis, which won the Paul Ricoeur Prize in 2010. This prize is awarded each year by Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, for theses from all French universities in the human and social sciences, law, economics and management. The prize includes subsequent publication by Presses Universitaires de Paris Ouest.

This is the first systematic investigation of the foundations of French law on prenatal life. It advances the original argument that the legal norms pertaining to the treatment of embryos and foetuses are determined by beliefs about the value of human life. This argument unfolds in two stages. Firstly, the aporias of current approaches to prenatal life are rigorously and systematically examined via case-law and parliamentary debates. Secondly, the book argues, the source of the aporias has to do with the ambiguities of attributing value to human life as such, as opposed to attributing value to the life of persons.