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65 S. Cal. L. Rev. 683 (1991-1992)
Tissue Transplantation from Aborted Fetuses, Organ Transplantation from Anencephalic Infants and Keeping Brain-Dead Pregnant Women Alive Until Fetal Viability

handle is hein.journals/scal65 and id is 701 raw text is: TISSUE TRANSPLANTATION FROM ABORTED FETUSES, ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION FROM ANENCEPHALIC INFANTS AND KEEPING BRAIN-DEAD PREGNANT WOMEN ALIVE UNTIL FETAL VIABILITY KENNMTH J. RYAN* The three interventions-using tissue from aborted fetuses, trans- planting organs from anencephalic infants, and maintaining brain-dead pregnant women as incubators-have little in common either technically or conceptually and hence each will be discussed separately. While the three interventions can all be considered under our theme of organisms as objects, they each also raise distinct moral and social issues that will be outlined as the technology and history of each procedure is described. I. TRANSPLANTATION OF TISSUE FROM FETUSES The use of animal tissues as treatment for some human deficiencies started at the beginning of this century in the field of endocrinology with testes extracts. This was followed by the use of ground-up bovine or porcine thyroid glands or gland extracts as medicine for cases of hypo- thyroidism. Subsequently, the isolation of hormones, such as insulin from pancreatic tissue, permitted the successful treatment of diabetes for the first time. Such medicines can treat deficiency diseases but cannot cure them. For a cure, the diseased tissue must be replaced by normal tissue within the body. If functioning pancreatic tissue could be trans- planted into a diabetic, the need for insulin injections might be replaced. Transplanting animal tissue to humans is generally not feasible because * M.D., Professor Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston Massachusetts.

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