When does (foetal) protection start from conception

Pre-natal existence has been protected in some way by every age, by every society, and mapped out in its system of rules. This is still the case today, but man’s knowledge today is incomparably more complex than in previous ages due to the advances in medicine and biology of the last few decades. Through the practitioners of medicine, knowledge of the ontogenesis of man spans the entire period from conception to death. Life conceived but not yet born is protected by the State’s duty to protect life. However, can the State today, with the instruments and concepts of the law, fully discharge this duty of protection? While medical science can account for almost every minute of the biology of embryonic development, jurisprudence cannot do the same for the objective institutional protection of the whole period of embryonic life. Catching up in this area is essential because the backlog is enormous.