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Personhood and the Three Branches of Government

I. Glenn Cohen, J.D.,
and Eli Y. Adashi, M.D.

The personhood movement has attempted to achieve legal recognition that the rights of human beings begin before birth, at the moment of conception or fertilization. In so doing, it threatens to radically change the practice of assisted reproduction.

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Funding and Disclosures

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available at NEJM.org.

Author Affiliations

From Harvard Law School and the Petrie–Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, Harvard University — both in Cambridge, MA (I.G.C.), and Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI (E.Y.A.).

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