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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Banning private stem cell banks: a human rights analysis
Authors:Jordaan, Donrich W.
Woodrow, ChristopherISNI
Pepper, Michael S.
Year:2009
Periodical:South African Journal on Human Rights (ISSN 0258-7203)
Volume:25
Issue:1
Pages:126-151
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:medical sciences
human rights
access to health care
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/19962126.2009.11865195
Abstract:Stem cell banking is a complex and controversial subject. There are currently three private, and no public, stem cell banks in South Africa. The de facto legal vacuum in which the private banks have operated thus far will change at some point in the future following the publication, for public comment, of draft regulations relating to human stem cells in the Government Gazette. If promulgated in their present form, the draft regulations would effectively ban private stem cell banking. The authors argue that such a ban would constitute an unjustifiable violation of at least four constitutionally protected rights: the right to access to health care, the right to bodily integrity, children's rights, and the right to freedom of economic activity. The traditional arguments against private banking that are based on the low recall rate of banked cells, and the diversion of resources away from public banks, may justify the regulation of private banks, but not their prohibition. Furthermore, the argument against private banking that is purportedly based on equality is shown to be based on an incorrect conception of equality, namely that equality justifies 'levelling down', in which unequal access to a certain social good can justifiably be remedied by denying everyone access to this social good. Less restrictive measures are proposed to regulate stem cell banking in South Africa for the public good and in a constitutionally acceptable fashion. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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