The legalization problem of the embryon status in the context of criminal legal protection of life

The problem of criminalization of illegal activities with embryos is more pressing today than ever. This is due to the rapid development of biotechnology, which causes research on embryos, on the one hand, as well as the presence of a vast field for abuse in the field of reproductive technology, primarily related to artificial insemination, on the other. In this connection, science, especially criminal law, is faced with a number of issues related to the establishment of limits on the exercise of reproductive rights and the establishment of the legitimacy (or illegality) of the use of embryos for research and therapeutic purposes. Therefore, without setting themselves the task of finding a solution to the entire spectrum of the above problems, the authors of the article focused only on those that need to be solved by means of criminal law. Based on an analysis of Russian and international legislation, the work concludes that the legal status of the embryo is dual, depending on whether it develops in vivo or in vitro. In the first case, the legal fate of the embryo is inseparable from the protection and protection of the rights of a pregnant woman, and law determines the limits of the implementation of the right of the embryo to life by setting a period for possible termination of pregnancy. In the second case, the embryo needs independent legal protection, including by means of criminal law.