The intersection between bioethics and human rights in the light of the universal declaration on bioethics and human...

This article aims to explore the increasing interconnection between bioethics and human rights that can be observed in recent international norms relating to biomedicine. To this end, the analysis has been focused on the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (UDBHR) adopted by UNESCO in 2005. Investigating the meanings of the intersection perceived in the UDBHR has led to the understanding of how bioethics and human rights are in accordance, under the normative perspective. Hence, in normative terms, the intersection between bioethics and human rights is clearly undisputable. However, there is no way to affirm that it is consolidated, as UDBHR's adoption is recent and its consolidation, together with its precepts, depends on state and non-state agents. The efficacy of a norm and its content depends on social, cultural and economic conditions, that is, it depends on a series of factors that influence the normative system. In the case of the UDBHR, its effective application and assimilation of its principles are directly linked to the use that bioethical institutions make of them and to how the community of bioethicists will project them in their thoughts and theory production. If, on the one hand UDBHR symbolizes the intersection confirmation--which is of extreme importance for its consolidation--on the other hand its range and consequent stabilization are submitted to the actions from governments, social institutions and bioethicists. Hence, there is still a lot to do in terms of introducing the human rights precepts into bioethics. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this goal. Thus based on the meanings of the intersection between bioethics and human rights identified in the UDBHR, this article presents five ways to understand the connection between these two fields.