ABSTRACT
Dieter Birnbacher’s stimulating paper (Birnbacher 1997) leads us to the very centre of our debate on ethical issues in reproductive medicine. The author helps us to clarify the emotional and biased use of moral language and suggests some distinctions which are useful in the discussion about the moral and legal status of the human embryo. Although I agree with the attempt to avoid some of the difficulties caused by the concept of human dignity, 1 cannot approve of all the critical remarks.
