Article Title

Post-mortem Semen Retrieval: A Normative Prescription for Legislation in the United States

Authors

Jon B. Evans, Concordia University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

Post-mortem semen retrieval (PMSR) is an increasingly common medical procedure in which sperm is extracted from a corpse and stored for potential reproductive use in the future. PMSR raises dozens of legal and ethical issues. Should it be legal to extract sperm from a corpse? Under what circumstances?

The law in the United States is silent on PMSR. The first report of a successful request for PMSR was made in 1980. Since then, many countries have passed legislation banning or regulating PMSR. To date, however, the United States has no laws on PMSR. Pre-existing laws on tissue donation, inheritance, and parentage incidentally address some of the legal issues raised by PMSR, but both the federal and state governments in the United States have failed to pass any laws either banning or regulating PMSR.[excerpt]

CU Commons Citation

Evans, Jon B. (2016) "Post-mortem Semen Retrieval: A Normative Prescription for Legislation in the United States," Concordia Law Review: Vol. 1: No. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/clr/vol1/iss1/6