Federal Shariat Court Legitimizes Test-Tube Babies
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Shariat Court (FSC), recently legitimized the use of test-tube procedure to conceive children. The court backed its decision on scientific reasoning. According to the FSC, “If a baby is born through mechanical/medical process where the sperm belongs to the actual father and the egg to the actual mother and the child is borne by the actual mother…the procedure would be legal and lawful.”
It was also declared that, because this method involves the consent of both parents and the baby is born to the actual mother and father, it lies in accordance with the injunctions of the Quran and Sunnah. On the other hand, the method of birth via surrogacy was deemed illegal and against the fundamental principles of Quran and Sunnah. The judgment thereby categorically states: “In all other cases where a woman is arranged as a surrogate mother against the monetary consideration or some other reason, the whole procedure as well as the resulting birth of the child would be illegal and against the injunctions of the holy Quran and Sunnah.”
The court extended its decision to include that any couple that engages in surrogacy, along with the woman agreeing to be the surrogate and operating doctor, shall be punished. The licence of said doctor would also be revoked. It was ordered that legislation regarding surrogacy and its repercussions under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) be made. Amendments in Section 2 of the Contract Act 1872 shall also be added; “…any agreement regarding surrogacy would not be enforceable by law as the same would contain unlawful proposals and unlawful considerations,” said the court in its decision.
The judgment was made by the FSC bench that consisted of Chief Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan, Justice Allama Dr Fida Muhammad Khan and Justice Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani. The court directed that amendments regarding the surrogacy issue be made by 15th August, 2017.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of CourtingTheLaw.com or any organization with which she might be associated.
