Put forward by Senator Alain Milon on 5 February 2018, a draft bill aimed at authorising genetic analyses on deceased persons” could be examined in a public session on 6 June”[1].
According to the Senator, it’s a case of bringing scientific progress in terms of analysing “the transmission of hereditary traits that predispose the onset of diseases, especially cancers” into line with legislation.
To “recommend the best solution – monitoring and/or prevention”, he believes that “the family history of cancers should be traced in order to advise living relatives. This would involve analysing deceased relatives to generate potentially useful information for the family”.
Today, the law “provides for patient consent”, which cannot be obtained if the person has died. The senator believes that removing this clause could protect “descendants through early screening”.
Although he denies challenging “human dignity” or “compromising the respect for private life”, this kind of proposal could have similar repercussions. The body of a deceased person should not be used for exploratory investigation.
Will we have to include a clause to protect our body from any form of mishandling?
For further reading:
- Post-mortem insemination: young wife of murder victim requests IVF
- Reproductive technologies and embryo research have transformed gametes into marketable products Sylviane Agacinski: “the law should not lose its civilising mission” when confronted with bioethical issues
[1] Hospimédia, Legislation could change to allow genetic analyses on deceased persons.