Regulating "the artificial family": an Austrian compromise

Finally Austria, too, has come round to a more or less final draft law on assisted reproduction (at the third attempt). It portrays a compromise of liberal and conservative views, which in some points has led to inconsistencies in its logical conception. The donation of semen, for instance, will be permitted, whereas ova donation will be strictly forbidden; the law will allow AID and at the same time prohibit heterologous IVF. The leading principles throughout this law, viz. human dignity, procreative autonomy, and the best interests of the child, surely vital in this context, are sometimes applied to justify regulations -- e.g. those that deny single women access to assisted reproduction -- violating the principle of equality. In this respect, the draft would definitely not bear a closer examination.