[The dignity of the frozen human embryo].
OBJECTIVE
The issue of the dignity of the human embryo is one of the key questions in bioethics debate today. The human being's dignity lies in the original and unique individuality that every embryo has. If there is no respect and defense of the human body from the very first moment of its appearance, it is impossible to assert the dignity of any human being. For this reason, it does not seem good for human dignity that human beings, in their incipient phase, should suffer from the halting of their biological functions. The practice of cryopreservation of human embryos shows a loss of the sense of the value of each individual human being.


METHODS
This paper is developed from a descriptive and interdisciplinary study of key ethical concepts in this subject.


CONCLUSIONS
1. Respect for the embryo's dignity must indeed exist from the beginning of its life. 2. For this reason, this respect does not depend on any operation, but on the eminence of its being. 3. Not only is freezing a habitat which contradicts the dignity of life, but it is also the expression of a will that determines and decides the human life of weaker beings. The embryo's dignity is thus reduced to the value of use where it is not out of date.
Zurriaráin
R Germán
RG
Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de La Rioja, Logroño. roberto.german@unirioja.es
D033421:Beginning of Human Life; D001755:Blastocyst; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000941:ethics; D019924:Embryo Disposition / Q000941:ethics; D033041:Embryo Research; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D026712:Value of Life